Rafale deal: SC order on leaked documents setback for NDA govt, says CPI

Senior CPI leader D Raja Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court order allowing leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgment, saying the order was a "setback" for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

The CPI national secretary said the "truth has to be found out now".

Earlier Wednesday, the apex court allowed leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgment and dismissed the government's preliminary objections claiming "privilege" over them.

"It is a setback and a slap in the face for the government. The court has rejected the government's argument. And now what is the answer from Mr (Narendra) Modi and Mr Arun Jaitley who were referring to Supreme Court all the time on the clean chit," he told PTI.

"The truth has to be found out," he added.

The Centre had submitted that privileged documents were procured by petitioners in an illegal way and used to support their review petitions against the December 14, 2018 judgment of the apex court dismissing all pleas challenging procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

The apex court said it will go ahead with the hearing on the review petition on the basis of new documents referred by petitioners.