JPC must on Rafale, reiterates Kharge citing Bofors, 2G examples

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday emphasised that the only way to break the logjam in Parliament was to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Rafale fighter jet deal the way it was set up in the Bofors and 2G cases.

"We are pressing for the demand of JPC meeting. We want JPC as we will only get to know everything when Parliament members sit and look into files. JPC was formed in Bofors and 2G cases also. If they announce JPC, this (Parliament logjam) will end immediately as we have no other demands," reiterated Kharge who is also the chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Questioning the central government's application seeking a correction in the apex court's order, Kharge said: "How can there be a typo? Had it been one word it would have been understandable, the entire paragraph cannot be a typo. Things have come out now and they are making attempts to further hide it."

He also asserted that the court did not cover all the aspects of the deal and the Congress has been demanding for a JPC even before the top court's order.

"Court has not given its decision on price. It has not said anything about HAL or public sector. Has court fixed pricing? Decisions about pricing, technology transfer haven't been taken up by the court. In November itself we said that Rafale deal issue cannot be resolved in the Supreme Court. This was said by us even a month before the Supreme Court's verdict," he said.

Kharge's remarks come days after the Supreme Court delivered a major victory to the government on the Rafale deal, said that there is "no occasion to really doubt the process", lending a setback to the Congress which has been alleging corruption in the agreement.

The union government on Saturday moved an application seeking a correction in the order to make it clear that the pricing aspect, examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), has not been looked into by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as yet.