Government yet to 'invent' justification for Rafale: Rahul

In the wake of Supreme Court seeking details from the government about the decision making process of the Rafale deal, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the "processes to justify his decision are yet to be invented".

"The Supreme Court has asked for the #RAFALE decision making process. It's quite simple really...

"The PM decided. The processes to justify his decision are yet to be invented. But work has begun.

"PS. In this connection, Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) is leaving for France tonight," Gandhi said in Twitter.

Led by Gandhi, the Congress has been relentless in attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime over the India-France intergovernmental deal to buy 36 Rafale jets, announced "unilaterally" by Modi in April 2015.

Besides petitioning the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Central Vigilance Commission, the Congress has been pressing for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the deal which it claimed caused worth Rs 41,205 crore loss to the public exchequer.

Earlier in the day, a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph asked the government to disclose the details of the decision making process while clarifying that the information sought was not related to pricing or suitability of the jets.

The information is to be furnished by October 29.

--IANS

and/nir