French journal Mediapart makes fresh claims of kickbacks in Rafale deal
New Delhi, Nov 8: French investigative journal Mediapart has made fresh claims that alleged bogus invoices were used that enabled French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help it secure the Rafale deal with India.
Mediapart had reported in July that a French judge has been appointed to lead a "highly sensitive" judicial investigation into suspected corruption" and favouritism in the Rs 59,000-crore inter-governmental deal with India for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets.
There was no reaction yet on the latest report from the defence ministry or Dassault Aviation.
"Mediapart is today publishing the alleged false invoices that enabled French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help secure the sale of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to India," the journal said in its new report on Sunday.
It alleged that despite the existence of "these documents", the Indian probe agencies decided not to pursue the matter.
"It involves offshore companies, dubious contracts and false invoices. Mediapart can reveal that detectives from India's federal police force, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and colleagues from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which fights money laundering, have had proof since October 2018 that French aviation firm Dassault paid at least 7.5 million euros (equivalent to Rs 650 million) in secret commissions to middleman Sushen Gupta," Mediapart claimed in the report.
"This was in the context of the French firm's long and ultimately successful attempt to secure a 7.8 billion-euro-deal in 2016 to sell 36 of its Rafale fighters to India," it said.
Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation and India's defence ministry have previously trashed allegations of any corruption in the contract.
India's Supreme Court too in 2019 dismissed petitions seeking a probe into the deal saying there was no ground for it.
In a statement published in April, reacting to Mediapart's report on the investigation, Dassault Aviation stated that the group, "acts in strict compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and national laws".
The NDA government had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.
The Congress accused the government of massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that it was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government during the negotiations for the MMRCA.
Prior to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, Congress raised several questions about the deal and alleged corruption, but the government rejected all the charges.
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Red Fort blast: Al Falah University gets show-cause from NAAC over false accreditation claim
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New Delhi (PTI): The National Assessment and Accreditation Council has issued a show-cause notice to Al Falah University, which is under scanner following the Delhi blast, for displaying false certification on its website, officials said on Thursday.
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous government body that evaluates and certifies the quality of higher education institutions like colleges and universities.
In its show-cause notice, the NAAC said it has noted that the university, "which is neither accredited nor applied for accreditation by NAAC", has publicly displayed on its website that some of its colleges are NAAC-certified.
The notice quoted the website as reading, "Al Falah University is an endeavour of Al Falah Charitable Trust, which has been running three colleges on the campus, namely Al Falah School of Engineering and Technology (since 1997, Graded A by NAAC), Brown Hill College of Engineering and Technology (since 2008), and Al Falah School of Education and Training (since 2006, Graded A by NAAC)."
"This is absolutely wrong and misleading the public, especially the parents, students and stakeholders," the NAAC notice said.
The accreditation body has sought an explanation from the university and directed it to remove the portions on its website and other publicly available documents that claim false NAAC certification.
The accreditation for Al Falah School of Engineering and Technology expired in 2018, while that of Al Falah School of Education and Training expired in 2016, the notice said.
"The accreditation status of both the colleges has expired. Both the colleges have not yet volunteered for fresh Assessment and Accreditation process of the NAAC," the notice said.
According to its website, Al Falah University was established by the Haryana Legislative Assembly under the Haryana Private Universities Act.
It started as an engineering college in 1997. In 2013, the Al Falah Engineering College received A-category NAAC accreditation. In 2014, the Haryana government granted it university status. The Al Falah Medical College is also affiliated with the university.
According to several observers, in its early years, the Al Falah University presented itself as an excellent alternative to Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia for minority students pursuing quality education.
On Monday, a high-intensity blast ripped through a car near Red Fort in Delhi, killing 13 people and injuring several others, hours after the busting of a "white collar terror module" and the arrest of eight people, including three doctors. The arrested doctors were linked to the Al Falah University.
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