SC brought closure to vilification: MoD on Rafale

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday said the Supreme Court has brought closure to an "exercise of vilification and casting doubts" on the defence acquisition process by "categorically" rejecting review petitions on multi-billion dollar Rafale deal.

In a statement, the MoD said the campaign against the Rafale deal had an "adverse impact" on the morale of the security forces and the Supreme Court has made it clear that the review petitions were "without any merit" and are dismissed.

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"The Supreme Court had given a clear verdict on December 14, 2018, on the petition seeking an inquiry into the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft. Today, the Supreme Court has categorically rejected review petitions filed subsequently against the order on merits bringing to a close an exercise of vilification and casting doubts on the Defence acquisition process which has an adverse impact on the morale of the security forces," the statement said.

The MoD said the court upheld the decision-making process and that all aspects were considered by the competent authority and the different views expressed considered and dealt with.

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Referring to the divergence of opinion by some experts who were part of the decision-making process, the MoD quoted from the verdict, "there were undoubtedly opinions expressed in the course of the decision making process, which may be different from the decision taken, but then any decision making process envisages debates and expert opinion and the final call is with the competent authority, which so exercised it."

The court also rightly observed about the need for fighter aircraft and the delay in the procurement process, the MoD said. It added that the court has found that the demand for aircraft were pending before different governments for quite some time and the necessity for those aircraft has never been in dispute.

The MoD also said the court has upheld the government position that the price of the aircraft is lower than the previous deal while emphasising that "what should be loaded on the aircraft or not and what further pricing should be added has to be left to the best judgement of the competent authorities".