A French judge has been appointed to probe into a "highly sensitive" investigation regarding the alleged "corruption and favouritism" in the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with India, a French investigative website Mediapart reported.
Following the development, Congress has sought for a joint parliamentary panel to investigate the Rafale deal. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Saturday has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come forward and consider the matter.
"Corruption in the Rafale deal has come out clearly now. The stand of the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi has been vindicated today after the French government ordered a probe," Mr Surjewala told reporters during a press conference.
France's National Financial Prosecutors' Office on Friday said that the alleged corruption charges in the sale of Rafale jets to India will be looked upon. This French judicial institution was founded in December 2013 to uncover serious economic and financial crimes.
Mr Surjewala further said, "When the French government has accepted that there is corruption in the deal, should a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) probe be not held in the country where the corruption took place?”
However, the BJP or the central government has not responded yet.
The Mediapart informed that a formal probe into the inter-governmental deal signed in 2016 was opened on June 14.
Furnishing more details on the recent development on the controversial deal, The Mediapert said, "A judicial probe into suspected corruption has been opened in France over the 7.8-billion-euro sale to India in 2016 of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter aircraft.”
The French investigating website said that the probe has been begun by the national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF).
Mediapart journalist Yann Philippin, who has registered a series of reports on the jet transaction stated that a first complaint was "buried" in 2019 by a former PNF chief.
"The judicial investigation was finally opened following the revelations of the investigation #RafalePapers of @mediapart and a new complaint from @Asso_Sherpa. A 1st complaint was buried in 2019 by the former PNF boss, Eliane Houlette," he tweeted.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday tweeted on the controversy saying, "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. - Lord Buddha," said Priyanka Gandhi. On the other hand, taking a swipe at Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi used the hashtag "#RafaleScam".
Citing an investigation by the country's anti-corruption agency, the Mediapart in April reported that Dassault Aviation had given one million Euros to an Indian middleman, however, the corruption allegations were denied by Dassault Aviation. It said that no violations were made while framing the contract.
Terming Congress’s latest attacks as “lies”, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Saturday said that "The way Rahul Gandhi is behaving, it will not be an exaggeration to say that he is being used as a pawn by competing companies. He has been lying right from the beginning on the issue.”
Rejecting Congress corruption charges, Patra cited a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General and a Supreme Court verdict and said that both reports have found that there has been no illegal activity involved in the defence deal between India and France.
A deal of Rs 59,000-crore was signed by the NDA government on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace firm Dassault Aviation after an about seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force which couldn’t get a nod during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule.
The Congress party accused the government of massive breaches in the deal and alleged that the centre was procuring each aircraft at a price of more than Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore which was settled by the UPA government during the negotiations for the MMRCA.
The Congress had raised several doubts about the aircraft deal before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, all the corruption charges were declined by the government.