Rahul Gandhi says Hollande has called Modi a thief, PM should reply
New Delhi, Sep 22 : Ratcheting up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said former French President Francois Hollande has called him a "thief" in the Rafale deal and sought a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the issue.
Addressing a press conference a day after Hollande had said that the French government had no role in making a private Indian firm get the offset contract, Gandhi questioned Modi's silence and asked him to come clean on whether Hollande was telling the truth or not.
"For the first time, an ex-French President is calling our PM a thief. It is a question of the dignity of the office of Prime Minister. It is the question of the future of our jawans and the Air Force. It is very important for PM now to either accept Mr. Hollande's statement or state that Mr. Hollande is lying and tell what the truth is," Gandhi said.
"What I'm surprised at is that PM is completely silent. Not one word has come out from PM's mouth on this. This is from a (former) President of France, who had a one-on-one meeting with PM where the Rafale deal was decided," he added.
Referring to Modi having earlier described himself as "chowkidar (watchman)" Gandhi said he had given a "free gift" of Rs 30,000 crore to his industrialist friend.
"This has entered into people's mind that the country's watchman is thief. He should come clear," Gandhi said.
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Allahabad HC expresses dissatisfaction over probe in 2009 custodial death case
Prayagraj (PTI): The Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation and state's evidence in a 2009 custodial death case in Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddhartha Nandan warned that if relevant videography and photographs are not placed before the court, the only option left to it will be to take assistance of CBI to recover the vital evidence.
The order was passed while hearing a PIL filed by Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives.
The court, in its order dated April 7, noted that crucial facts including video and photo evidence of the incident are missing.
The court observed, "In the event, by the next date of hearing, the videography and photographs relevant in this case are not placed before this court, the only other option left to this court is to take assistance of the central bureau of investigation (CBI) to recover vital evidence in this case which shall be considered on the next date of hearing."
"The chain of evidence is unclear casting doubt on the fairness of the investigation," the court added.
The court also directed the then sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Karmendra Singh of Mainpuri to file his affidavit strictly in terms of the order dated February 9, failing which, it said, it shall consider to take appropriate action against him.
The court asked Singh to give a precise answer on the fate of the videography recording which was done in his presence.
The court fixed May 5 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
