'Only JPC probe will bring out truth in Rafale deal'

Left parties on Friday said that only a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal can bring out the truth after the Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging the multi-billion defence pact between India and France.

"The truth about the Rafale scam will only come out through the mechanism of a JPC. We reiterate our long-standing demand for a JPC. Modi’s refusal to have a JPC is the biggest evidence of guilt (sic)," CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Twitter.

Yechury also claimed there was no CAG report in the Rafale deal so far.

"Who misled Supreme Court? What other lies were told by govt in the sealed cover? It was not a signed affidavit that govt gave & Ministers have made more misleading statements. This in itself calls for an enquiry. A JPC probe is the only way," he tweeted.

The party posted on its official Twitter handle that the SC verdict was not a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government.

"SC has merely stated that it doesnt have Jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution. Only a JPC can uncover the truth about #RafaleScam," it tweeted.

D Raja, national secretary of the CPI, said that Parliament was supreme in a democracy and the government should agree to a JPC probe into the defence deal to ensure that the truth is revealed.

"Parliament is supreme in our democracy. All opposition parties have been demanding a JPC probe into the Rafale fighter jet deal. Why cannot the government agree on a JPC probe? After all, the issue is related to the country's security. Let there be a JPC probe and the truth will come out," he said

"I don't know how the Supreme Court can come to such a conclusion," he said on the apex court decision.

CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said the Supreme Court order is not a clean chit to the government.

"Technical know-how may be confidential but the price paid by the government is taxpayers' money. Taxpayers have right to know what was the price paid by the government," Reddy said.

Earlier in the day, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets, saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the process" warranting setting aside of the contract.