(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Congress president Rahul Gandhi yesterday slammed the government for maintaining 'secrecy on the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets with France after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharam told parliament that its details were 'classified information and could not be disclosed.
The Congress also termed the deal a 'great Indian mystery, and claimed that a 'huge scam is brewing as due procedures in the purchase of the fighter jets were not followed and were bought off the shelf 'like oranges.
'Top Secret (Not for Distribution) RM (Raksha Minister) says the price negotiated for each Rafale jet by the PM and his ‘reliable' buddy is a state secret, Gandhi said in a tweet.
'Action Points Informing Parliament about the price is a national security threat and Brand all who ask, anti-national, he said in another tweet.
The Congress said the government was not disclosing the exact cost of the entire deal but it 'heard that the new cost per jet is around three times higher than the price finalised in the deal struck by the Congress government in 2012.
'Complete non-transparency in the purchase price of aircraft, flagrant violation of the mandatory provisions of the ‘Defence Procurement Procedure' and prior clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security, sacrificing both national interests and national security and blatant promotion of financial interests of capitalist friends by Prime Minister Narendra Modi mark the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft by Modi government from Dassault Aviation of France, party leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Rajeev Gowda and Randeep Singh Surjewala said at a press conference here.
Gowda, a Rajya Sabha member, on Monday asked the government the cost of each Rafale jet as per the new deal, but the government refused to disclose it, with Sitharaman, in a written reply, maintaining that as per Article 10 of the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between the Indian and French governments on the deal, the classified information and material is governed by the provisions of the security agreement signed between the two nations in 2008.
Azad, the Leader of Opposition in the upper house, said that the Congress government had sought to buy 126 Rafale fighter aircraft at roughly Rs5.26bn per jet with transfer of technology.
'But we now hear that the Modi government is buying the same aircraft for around Rs1,517 crore (Rs15.17bn) per jet, that is, three times the cost finalised in our deal. Is it true? Why is Modi government not disclosing this? This is not a state secret. The public of this country has a right to know.
He said that while striking a deal with the French company in 2015, Prime Minister Modi did not follow the due procedure.
'As per the Defence Procurement Procedure, 2013, before finalising any deal related to defence equipment, it has to first go through the Contract Negotiations Committee and then the Price Negotiations Committee would first make ‘price discovery' followed by inter-governmental agreement.
'The Cabinet Committee on Security has to clear the deal before the announcement of purchase. But on April 10, 2015, when Modiji unilaterally announced the deal, none of these steps had been followed.
Surjewala said that on July 4, 2014, Eurofighter Typhoon another bidder along with Dasault wrote to the then defence minister Arun Jaitley offering to reduce its prices by 20%. This, he said, could have saved millions of dollars to the exchequer but the Modi government ignored it.
'On November 17, 2017, the defence minister in a press conference stated that 36 Rafale aircraft were purchased on ‘emergency basis'. What was the need to buy aircraft on ‘emergency basis' on April 10, 2015 when regular purchase had already been negotiated through an international tender on December 12, 2012?
'Why is it that despite the ‘emergency purchase' and the lapse of 35 months, not a single aircraft has been delivered? How long will it take for the delivery of the aircraft? Is it not correct that the Indian Air Force will not have delivery of the aircraft till end of 2019 as stated in the public domain? Does it not compromise India's strategic interests? Surjewala added.
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