'Govt lied in Supreme Court': Congress steps up attack on Govt over Rafale deal

Rafale deal CAG report Congress — Image Source : ANI
Mallikarjun Kharge said the government should apologise for falsely claiming that CAG report on the Rafale deal was tabled in Parliament and PAC.

Accusing the Modi government of misleading the Supreme Court over Rafale fighter jet deal issue, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said that the government should apologise for falsely claiming that CAG report on the Rafale deal was tabled in Parliament and Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

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Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Kharge, who is the chairman of PAC, said he will request all members of the panel to summon the Attorney General and the CAG to ask them when was the public auditor's report tabled in Parliament.

"I will request the PAC members to call the Attorney General (AG) and the Comptroller and Auditor General to ask them when was the CAG report on the Rafale deal tabled in Parliament," he told reporters.

Kharge also cited the Supreme Court judgement that stated that the CAG report on Rafale pricing had been tabled in Parliament and discussed in the PAC.

"When has the CAG discussed the PAC report. It has not been table so far. Wrong information is being feeded in the Supreme Court, it is a matter of shock...Government should apologise for misleading SC by presenting wrong facts on CAG report before Supreme Court,"Kharge said.

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal also lashed out at the the government over giving wrong facts to the Supreme Court. "I think the Attorney General should be called before the PAC and be asked why wrong facts were presented. This is a very serious matter," Sibal said.

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Supreme Court verdict

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dealt with "three broad areas of concern" raised in the petitions - the decisionmaking 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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It said the Indian Air Force (IAF) needs advanced fighter jets as the country cannot afford to be 'unprepared' or 'under prepared' in a situation where adversaries have acquired fourth and fifth generation fighter aircraft, "of which, we have none".

WATCH: Govt lied in Supreme Court over Rafale: Congress