New Delhi, December 16 (IANS) Claiming that the SupremeCourt judgment on the Rafale case was "void" as it was based on"false and misleading submissions" by the Centre, the Congress onSunday demanded an immediate recall of the apex court verdict and a notice tobe issued to the Modi government for perjury and contempt of court.
The Congress also urged the Supreme Court to not entertainthe Centre's Saturday application seeking rectification of errors in thejudgment, which the government claimed "occurred, perhaps, on account ofmisinterpretation" by the court.
At the centre of controversy is paragraph 25 of the judgmentin which the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi-led bench observed: "The pricingdetails have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) and the CAG report has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee(PAC). Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before Parliament andis in public domain."
However, PAC Chairman Mallikarjun Kharge and the Congresshave maintained that "no portion of the CAG report has been placed beforeParliament or was in the public domain".
Stepping up the attack against the Modi regime, Congressleader Anand Sharma said that the Modi government not only committed perjury bymaking false assertions before the court but was also guilty of breach ofparliamentary privileges.
"The Supreme Court judgment is not onlyself-contradictory but is shocking in terms of having factual inaccuracies thatare a result of false and misleading submissions made by the government.
"We demand that the Supreme Court immediately recallsthe judgment which is void as it is made on the premise of false submission bythe government. The entire episode has dented the dignity of the highest courtin the country and it should give notice to the Modi government for perjury andcontempt of court," Sharma told the media here.
The former union minister flayed the Modi government overits Saturday plea to rectify two sentences in the para 25 of the judgment wheredue to "misinterpretation" by the court, saying "is" wasinterpreted as "has been" at one place and as "was" inanother.
"What the Modi government has done is unprecedented andits curative petition adds only to the injury it has caused to the SupremeCourt. Instead of admitting its lies and apologizing, it is giving grammarlessons to the Chief Justice and his fellow judges.
"The court should take serious note of this and takeaction against the government for perjury and contempt of court," saidSharma, adding that the matter of breach of parliamentary privileges will alsobe raised in both Houses.
The Supreme Court on Friday had dismissed multiple petitionsseeking court-monitored probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fightersholding that the decision making process was not in doubt and it cannot go intothe question of pricing and choice of offset Indian partner by the Frenchaircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation.
