Falsehood has short life, it lowers credibility of creator: Jaitley on Rafale judgement

Falsehood has a very short life and it lowers the credibility of its creator, remarked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday while reacting to the Supreme Court verdict rejecting petitions pertaining to the Rafale fighter jets deal.

"The disruptors have lost and they have lost on all counts. They have lost on the count that the need of this combat aircraft was acute and necessary," he said.

Intensifying his attack on the Opposition, Jaitley said: "Now, somebody has to answer a question that after shortlisting this purchase, both in terms of quality and cost, why it was virtually stopped if not abandoned? Why was national security compromised with? Why was needs of the Air Force compromised with?"

"It has protected both security interest and commercial interest of India. Security interest because it increases the combat ability of our forces and commercial interest because that sealed envelope indicated that the final price was significantly lower, both for the aircraft and the weaponised aircraft, than what was being negotiated between 2007 and 20012," he further added.

In a scathing remark, Jaitley also commented that those who created and manufactured this falsehood have all hurt India's larger security interest in the country.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court dismissed all petitions pertaining to multi-million dollar Rafale fighter jets deal. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, stated that there is no need to conduct an investigation into details of Rafale pricing.

"We are satisfied that there is no occasion to doubt the process. Joint exercise has taken place and there is no element of financial benefits," said CJI Gogoi.

The CJI added that "Detailed scrutiny of Rafale deal is not required."

Earlier also, on November 13, Jaitley had hit out at the Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying that the failed politics of Gandhi scion was compelling him to rake up Rafale fighter jets deal controversy.

In a series of tweets, the Finance Minister had said: "Falsehood is not a substitute for Rahul Gandhi's failed politics.