Rafale verdict: Defence minister meets PM
December 14, 2018  13:09
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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets PM Narendra Modi after the Rafale verdict. The defence minister is yet to make a statement on the Supreme Court verdict today, but Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke on behalf of the government, welcoming the Supreme Court's judgement in the Rafale fighter jet deal.


He urged that all campaigns against the Rafale deal must end now as the country's strategic interest is more important.


The apex court dismissed all the petitions seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar defence deal.


"I am very happy that today the Supreme Court has given the decision, upholding the entire Rafale deal. "...I would only urge one thing, that all campaigns against Rafale must end now because the country's strategic interest is more important," Prasad said on the sidelines of an event organised by industry body CII.


He further said that the country needed effective fighter planes to reinforce the strength of the Air Force. "This has been pending for a long time." "The entire deal was completely fair, transparent and honest," Prasad asserted.


The Congress has been alleging that the government had put pressure on Dassault Aviation to select Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) as its offset partner.


The government, RDL and Dassault Aviation rejected the charges. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said there is a necessity for fighter aircraft and the country cannot remain without the jets. -- PTI
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