Rafale deal: Congress leaders seek independent probe, to meet CVC

Eminent Congress leaders are scheduled to meet the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Monday (September 24) in an attempt to request an independent probe into the much controversial and alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal with France, the party said. The Congress had earlier requested the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Rajiv Mehrishi, to make an official report on the alleged asymmetry in the deal and provide it in the parliament.

The leaders are also expected to seek a registration of corruption in the Rafale deal, as per reports.

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been constantly criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government, alleging corruption and violation of the code of conduct and asked for appropriate answers from the Centre. He had also accused the PM and the Finance Minister Arun Jaitely and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of ‘lying’ about the Rafale deal.

The Rafale deal row took a sharp turn after former France president Francois Hollande in an interview said that Indian government had put forward Reliance Defence’s name as an offset partner for manufacturer Dassault Aviation under the ‘offset clause’.

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In reply, the French government stated that the French firm have complete choice of selecting the Indian companies as per the offset clause.

On April 10, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that India would be obtaining 36 Rafale fighter jets after holding official talks with then-president Francois Hollande in Paris.