IAF officials being forced to praise new Rafale deal: Prashant Bhushan

The country has never witnessed a defence scam of such magnitude, said the activist

Senior Supreme Court lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan on Saturday alleged that to justify the changed Rafale deal, the Indian Air Force (IAF) officials were being forced to speak in praise of the new deal signed by the Modi Government.

The opposition parties and many activists have been questioning the change in the deal for the purchase of the Rafael fighter jets by the present government. The earlier deal by the UPA government to purchase 126 fighter planes from France's Dassault was allegedly altered to buy only 36 fighter planes for around Rs 600 billion.

"After the expose, the NDA government doesn't have anything to justify the change in the deal, so now IAF officials are being pressurised to speak in favour of the new deal," Prashant Bhushan told reporters.

Calling it a major scam, he alleged, "This is a scam of unimaginable proportions. The country has never witnessed a defence scam of such magnitude," he said.

"The Bofors deal involved a scam of only Rs 640 million, but the present change in original UPA deal, points to a scam of at least Rs 210 billion. Not only that, but far more is the seriousness of compromising the country's security," he said.

Questioning the prime minister's motive, Bhushan asked, "Who gave the prime minister the permission to reduce the requirements of the IAF from 126 planes to only 36, overriding the IAF demands and the Defence Acquisition Council's decision?"