A Rafale fighter jet flies over the French Air Force base in Mont-de-Marsan, southwestern France, June 27, 2017. Picture taken June 27, 2017 REUTERS/Regis Duvignau 0
New Delhi, October 27 (PTI): The Centre on Saturday submitted the details of the decision-making process in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court, as per the apex court's direction.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had sought details of the process that led to the deal which has now become engraved in a raging political battle. The top court had asked for the details minus the technical processes while setting Monday (October 29) as the date for hearing the case.
A three-bench judge headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi along with Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph is hearing the matter of a petition filed by ML Sharma.
The petitioner has charged the government with corruption in the deal. The apex court however made it clear that it is not taking into account allegations made in the petition.
"We would like to be appraised of the details of the steps in the decision-making process in the Rafale Deal. No official notice. SC also makes it clear that the Centre's response need not cover issue of pricing." the apex court had said.
Congress has tried to corner the government over the Rafale deal over the last several months and has questioned why the prices of the fighter jets were increased and why the contract to manufacture some of these jets in India were given to Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence and not to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
16:11 Kashmiri people should stand with Govt, not with separatists in fight against terrorism: Jaitley:
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the people of Kashmir ought to stand with the government and not with the separatists in the fight against terrorism.
"I think it is absolutely essential for all of us ...that in this battle, we need the Kashmiri people on our side. It's a battle for sovereignty, it's a battle against separatists and terrorists and the key is also held by the people," he said.
"And therefore our approach has to be guided by the fact that those people are on our side, and not with the separatists," he said while delivering the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture here.
He regretted that at a time when the country is dealing with troubles being fomented from across the border, some local groups have joined them and the worst sufferers are Kashmiri people themselves.
"How do we resolve the situation? Governments have said that we are ready for the most logical option. We are willing to talk to people, we are willing to even interact and involve regional mainstream parties into it," he said.
Jaitley also said that mainstream regional parties, which speak one language in Srinagar and another in Delhi, must have the courage to face the situation.
They need to create an alternative set of discourse in the Valley for separatists, he said adding "Unfortunately they duck that responsibility. And therefore this is a battle which India has to win and I have no doubt in mind, we will succeed in it at the end of the day because the politics of India has to send a clear message that separatism will never be accepted by India and its mainstream".
He said that every policy and position that the government takes have to be guided by one of the yardsticks that "the people of Kashmir have to be gradually brought on this side and that will be the real test of when we succeed".
