SC not forum to decide sensitive Rafale deal contract: Randeep Surjewala

After the Apex Court found no irregularities in the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets by the NDA government, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Friday said that "the Supreme Court is not the forum to decide such sensitive defence contract."

"The verdict of the Supreme Court today is a validation of what the Congress party stated months again, that Supreme Court is not the forum to decide such sensitive defence contract," Surjewala stated.

"Article 136 and 32 are not the forum to decide the issue, the pricing, the process, the sovereign guarantee and the corruption in the Rafale contract. Only forum and media together can form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which can probe the entire corruption in Rafale deal," he added.

Surjewala also criticised the Prime Minister for not initiating JPC probe in the matter and challenged him to allow the Congress party to conduct the investigation into the case. "What the government presented to the Supreme Court was one-sided, half-baked information on an unsigned affidavit, which was not scrutinised by anybody nor was it in public domain. If the government has nothing to hide and Modi Ji's-led Centre government had not done any corruption then I challenge him today on behalf of the Congress to submit to a JPC probe, which will examine the notings on the file and question the Prime Minister and Defence Minister," he said.

Slamming Prime Minister Modi and BJP leaders for celebrating the court's verdict on Rafale deal, Congress leader Anand Sharma stated: "Supreme Court has not commented on many important aspects. We continue to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Rafale deal. JPC has the right to summon all documents," adding that "There is no reason for the Prime Minister and BJP government to celebrate the Supreme Court's order which in itself is contradictory. Honourable Apex Court has said it won't be proper for it to go into details of the deal."

Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge opined, "Our demand was for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and it still stands. The main issue is pricing on which the Supreme Court denied to comment as it is not in its jurisdiction."

"The Home Minister Rajnath Singh is speaking on an incomplete judgement given on a PIL filed in Rafale deal case," he added.

Earlier in a day, Rajnath Singh said, "The matter of Rafale deal was crystal clear from the beginning and we (BJP) have been saying that the allegations levelled by Congress were baseless and to gain political mileage."

The Rafale jet deal controversy has been on the boil over the last few months. The Congress and other opposition parties have been alleging irregularities in the high-profile deal.