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The Supreme Court of India (SC) on October 10 asked the Centre to provide details of the decision making process in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France in a sealed cover but clarified that it does not want information on pricing and technical particulars.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph, also made it clear that it was not taking into account the allegations on corruption in the deal made in the petitions.
The top court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a stay on the Rafale deal between India and France and information about the contract given to Reliance Defence by Dassault.
The deal goes back to August 2007, when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government issued tenders for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
In January 2012, the Indian Ministry of Defence announced that Dassault Rafale had won the tender for the 126 aircraft. Of these, 18 fully built aircraft were to be purchased while the remaining would be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) under a transfer of technology (TOT) contract.
Other possible options were Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fighting Falcon, Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, among others. The Rafale was chosen mainly due to its lower life cycle cost, reports suggest.
Negotiations stalled for years owing to change in governments, both in India and France, and the aircraft's costs.
The Modi-led government, however, scaled back previous government's commitment of buying 126 fighter jets citing the huge cost of the deal.
During PM Modi’s official visit to France in April 2015, it was announced that India would acquire 36 fully built Rafale, citing "critical operational necessity".
In July 2015, then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar informed the Parliament that the previous tender for 126 aircraft had been withdrawn and negotiations for 36 aircraft had commenced.
In January 2016, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire 36 aircraft.
This deal was priced at about 7.8 billion euros, with nearly 15 percent being paid in advance. The deal also outlined that India will get spares and weaponry, such as the Meteor and Scalp missiles, which are considered among the most sophisticated in the world.
In November 2016, the Congress party accused the BJP government of irregularities in the deal, alleging that each aircraft was being procured at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore, against the Rs 526 crore-figure finalised by the UPA government.
The government has so far refused to share details of the deal, citing a 2008 secrecy clause between India and France. The former defence minister and Congress leader AK Antony denied this clause. Congress also alleged that the government was aiding Reliance Defence.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman denied the allegations and said that the deal was cheaper than the one initially agreed upon by the UPA government.
The defence minister added that prices between the 126-aircraft-tender and the 36-aircraft-agreement was because of different requirements, and that HAL was not considered due to the deal being much smaller than the previous one.
The Modi government has claimed that the present deal was better, far more transparent and included a greater weapons package and logistical support. It added that Reliance Defence and Dassault Aviation had formed a joint venture -- Dassault Reliance Aerospace -- and the Indian government had no role to play in it.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley accused the Congress of ‘compromising’ the country’s security by seeking confidential information concerning the deal.
The delivery of the first Rafale aircraft is expected to take place in September 2019. Delivery of the final aircraft is expected to happen by April 2022.
(With inputs from PTI)
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