New Delhi | Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court decision rejecting pleas seeking lodging of an FIR and a court-monitored probe into the Rafale aircraft deal, saying the order “exposed the lies” of the Congress.
Sonowal also said the apex court has put its “stamp of approval” on the agreement between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets, which are crucial to India’s defence strategy. “The decision of the Supreme Court has exposed the lies of the Congress. The opposition party is only trying to mislead the nation just by spreading the canard,” he told reporters here.
The chief minister said the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been providing clean and transparent governance and working for the welfare of all sections of the people.
In relief to the Modi government, the Supreme Court Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no reason to “really doubt the decision making process” warranting setting aside of the contract.
The apex court rejected the pleas seeking lodging of an FIR and the court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000-crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA).
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dealt with “three broad areas of concern” raised in the petitions — the decision- making process, pricing and the choice of Indian offset partners (IOP) — and said there was no reason for intervention by the court on the “sensitive issue” of purchase of 36 jets.
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