Rafale judgement: SC to hear review petitions on Mar 6

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Wednesday, March 6, in open court a couple of petitions seeking review of the December 14, 2018 judgement which had rejected a plea for probe into the 2016 deal from France to buy fighter jets.

According to the causelist put on Supreme Court's website, both the petitions-- one filed jointly by former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan and another one by AAP MP Sanjay Singh would be taken up by a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph.

The three-judge bench would assemble as an alternate bench, since on March 6, the Ayodhya matter would also be heard by a five-judge bench presided over by CJI Gogoi, wherein the question for appointment of mediators to resolve the dispute related to Ram temple and Babri Masjid, would be dealt with.

In Rafale matter, two other applications would also be considered by the same bench.

One application has been filed by the Union government for "correction or modification" of the judgement which had stated the redacted portion of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report had been put before Parliament and in public domain.

Advocate Bhushan has filed another plea seeking perjury action against the senior officers of the Union government for "misleading" the court on CAG report.

On February 26, the top court decided to grant open court hearing in the matter.

The top court had on December 14, 2018 dismissed the plea for probe into the 2016 Rafale fighter jets deal from France.