After victories in 3 states in the recently held elections, Congress today suffered a setback in Supreme Court. Party president Rahul Gandhi’s jibe at PM Modi, of the ‘Chowkidar’ (Security Guard) being a ‘Chor’ (Thief) proved to be a ‘lie’, as the Supreme Court observed that there is nothing wrong with the procurement process of Rafale fighter aircrafts. Getting a much-needed boost after its electoral defeats, the government and BJP asked Rahul Gandhi to apologize.
Reacting to the Supreme Court’s order, BJP president Amit Shah buoyantly said: “Truth always prevails.” Many union cabinet ministers and party leaders also hailed the Supreme Court and demanded Rahul’s apology for ‘false’ and ‘repeated’ allegations of corruption in the Rs. 59,000 crore worth deal for 36 aircrafts against PM Modi, which he made while campaigning during the recent assembly polls.
“There is no evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity,” said the Supreme Court, being ‘dismissive’ of the petitions filed by the likes of Prashant Bhushan, which were accusing the government of purchasing ‘overpriced’ aircrafts, only to help Anil Ambani’s company ‘Reliance Defence’ get a contract for offset spares from France’s ‘Dassault Aviation’ – the company which manufactures Rafale fighter aircrafts.
3 judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi himself, said: “Having heard the matter in detail, we find no reason for any intervention by this court on the sensitive issue. Perception of individuals cannot be the basis of a fishing and roving enquiry by this court, especially in such matters.” The court also said, “our adversaries are stated to have acquired not only 4th Generation but even 5th Generation Aircrafts, of which, we have none”.
Citing their interaction with Air Force officers, the judges said, for the sake of ‘security’ and ‘sovereignty’, India cannot remain ‘unprepared’ or ‘underprepared’. They added, “We cannot sit in judgment over the wisdom of deciding to go in for the purchase of 36 aircrafts in place of 126. We cannot possibly compel the Government to go in for the purchase of 126 aircrafts,” busting another Congress allegation.
The party had alleged an ‘unfair’ scrapping of a deal for 126 Rafales worked on by UPA government, for ‘benefitting’ Anil Ambani. Meanwhile, Ambani also hailed the verdict, saying that it “conclusively established the complete falsity of wild, baseless and politically motivated allegations.” As if all this was not enough, the judges also backed Modi government’s stand of keeping the price of the aircraft, a secret.
Rejecting all petitions in the matter, the judges said “It is certainly not the job of this court to carry out a comparison of the pricing details in matters like the present. We say no more as the material has to be kept in a confidential domain.” The Youth thinks that politicians levelling baseless allegations like Rahul Gandhi should apologize. Reply in the comments, as to what you feel about this.
