Rafale deal 'scam of unimaginable proportion': Prashant Bhushan

Terming the Rafale fighter aircraft deal "a scam of unimaginable proportion", senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Saturday alleged that the Anil Ambani's Reliance Group got an offset deal worth Rs 21,000 crore as "commission".

He compared this to the alleged kickbacks in the Bofors gun deal in the 1980s.

Ambani has earlier rejected the allegation.

Bhushan charged that the BJP-led government "compromised" on national security, left the Indian Air Force "high and dry", just to accommodate Anil Ambani's company in the deal.

"Rafale deal is a scam of unimaginable proportion. Bofors was a Rs 64-crore scam, with four per cent commission paid in that. In this scam, the commissions are at least 30 per cent. The Rs 21,000 crore given to Anil Ambani is just commission, nothing else," he alleged.

The Reliance Group, in a statement quoting Ambani's letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi last month, had said, "Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests."
"Simply put, no contract exists with the Government of India."