Will question Attorney General, CAG on Rafale: Kharge

Keeping the pot boiling, PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said he will press for summoning the Attorney General and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to ask them when was the public auditor's report tabled and when did the PAC examine it, a day after a row broke out over Supreme Court's reference to the issue.

Speaking to the media, the senior Congress leader said the government has not produced the facts correct before the Supreme Court and has "lied" in the court.

"The government showed that a Comptroller and Auditor's General report was produced and the same was examined by the Public Accounts Committee.

"The government lied in the Court that the CAG report was presented in the House and in PAC. They also told the Court that the PAC has probed it. They claimed that the report was in the public domain. Where is it? Have you seen it? I am going to take this up with other members of PAC.

"I am going to request all membmers (of PAC) to call the Attorney General. The Comptroller and Auditor General will also be questioned and asked when was the report presented, when was it accepted, when was it brought to PAC, when was the evidence taken and when was it presented in Parliament," Kharge said.

On Friday, while rejecting the demand for appointment of a court-monitored probe into the Rafale dea, the Supreme Court had observed that "...the pricing details have, however, been shared with the CAG and the report of the CAG has been examined by the PAC. Now only the redacted portion of the report was placed before Parliament and it is in public domain".

Accusing the government of "misleading" the Apex Court, he demanded that the government should apologise for it.

"The report has not been tabled in the Parliament so far. Wrong information is being fed in the Supreme Court. The government should apologise for misleading the SC by presenting wrong facts on CAG report before Supreme Court," he said.

Kharge also said they respect the Supreme Court but it is not a probe agency and only a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) can investigate the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal.

--IANS

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