Critics demand CBI probe into the Rafale deal

The critics of the Rafale deal — former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan — on Friday demanded a CBI inquiry into the controversial deal, latching on to a portion of the SC judgment written by Justice KM Joseph, who was a part of a three-member bench that dismissed a petition seeking a probe into the controversial fighter aircraft deal.

In his separate and concurring view, Justice Joseph held that the apex court's judgment, rejecting a plea to direct probe into the Rafale deal, would not be a bar to the CBI to act on a corruption complaint, if the agency got prior sanction from the government.

“We expect the office of Rishi Kumar Shukla, director, CBI to seek the necessary approval in conformity with the judgement of the court,” the trio said in a statement issued at a press conference here, which was not attended by Sinha.

A day after the SC rejected a petition to lodge an FIR into the Rs 59,000 crore deal to buy 36 Rafale aircraft from France, Shourie said the SC could not hide under a self-manufactured burkha of restraint and the CBI was bound to act in accordance with a past ruling from the top court (the Lalita Kumari case of 2014 in which the SC framed the guidelines on the investigation of criminal cases).

Bhusan said since Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul didn't say anything on the concurrent verdict from Justice Joseph, it would be binding on the CBI to seek permission from the government for investigation under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In 2015, the section was amended by the Narendra Modi government, making it a must for CBI and other investigating agencies to seek permission from the Centre before initiating any probe against bureaucrats.

Justice Joseph's judgement, running into 91 pages out 107 pages of the ruling, was also exploited by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who demanded a Joint Parliamentary Probe.

“The contention by Sinha, Shourie and Bhushan couldn't succeed before the SC under review jurisdiction, though otherwise they may have made out a case, having regard to the law actually laid down in Lalita Kumari case, which stated the FIR must be registered on disclosure of a cognisable offence,” Justice Joseph wrote in his ruling.