Despite SC rejecting need for probe, Rahul Gandhi maintains Rafale deal allegations

Supreme Court finds no irregularities in NDA government's decision making process to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault under Indo-French intergovernmental agreement.

The Supreme Court has said that there are no irregularities in NDA government's decision-making process to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault under Indo-French intergovernmental agreement. "We are satisfied that there is no occasion to doubt the process. A country can’t afford to be underprepared. Not correct for the Court to sit as an appellant authority and scrutinise all aspects," says Supreme Court.

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Here are the highlights:

# "The foundation of SC judgement today mentions that pricing of Rafale jets was discussed in CAG. Where are the details? Why has PAC not seen it? Why has the PAC chairman not seen it?"

R Gandhi: Govt will have to explain to us where is the CAG report. Show it to PAC chairman Kharge ji. Maybe a different PAC is running parallelly, maybe in a different Parliament, maybe in Parliament of France. It's possible Modi ji has constituted his own PAC in PMO. #RafaleDeal pic.twitter.com/iU2A3SgUEw — ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2018

# Rahul Gandhi addresses press conference on Rafale deal, maintains allegations on 'inflated' prices, contract being taken away from HAL and being given to Reliance Defence, and asks why PM Modi does not speak on the matter.

# Arun Jaitley flays Congress for indulging in fiction writing. (Read full report here)

# Supreme Court has said nothing wrong, deciding on pricing is not the Supreme Court's job but similarly deciding on building Ram Temple is also not their job. Rafale deal issue will be sorted out in Parliament and not in SC, says Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.

# It's not about political win or loss, it is about the morale of soldiers who guard our nation, says Amit Shah.

# Congress is welcome to tell people about the Rafale issue, but they should carry the Supreme Court judgement too with them, says Amit Shah.

# Despite constant allegations by Rahul Gandhi, people of this country never doubted the integrity of BJP government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, says Amit Shah.

# JPC is formed after a debate in Parliament, but the Congress is running away from a debate on the issue. Arun Jaitley asked for a debate on the floor of the House today itself, says Amit Shah.

# We are not running from a JPC probe, I'm asking them as to why they ran away from the Supreme Court, says Amit Shah.

# Congress is living in an imaginary world where there is no place for truth. They are questioning the Supreme Court now, if they have facts, they should have gone to the top court and placed the evidence before it, says Amit Shah.

# Rahul Gandhi must refrain from making such childish allegations in the future, says Amit Shah.

# If all thieves join hands and call the chowkidar a thief, people of this country will not listen to them, says Amit Shah.

# Why was Rafale deal stalled from 2007 to 2014, the Congress needs to explain this. They compromised with the military might of the nation, says Amit Shah.

# Whoever has lied on Rafale, especially Congress president Rahul Gandhi, must apologise to the nation, says Amit Shah.

# Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Supreme Court verdict on Rafale deal.

# Our demand was for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and it still stands. Main issue is pricing which Supreme Court said it did not want to comment as it is not in its jurisdiction. Home Minister is speaking on an incomplete judgement given on a PIL.

# Article 136 and 32 are not the forum to decide the issue, the pricing, the process, the sovereign guarantee and the corruption in the Rafale contract. Only forum and only media is a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) which can probe the entire corruption in Rafale deal, says Randeep Singh Surjewala.

# The verdict of the Supreme Court today is a validation of what the Congress party stated months again, that SC is not the forum to decide on such sensitive defence contract, says Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala.

# Anil Ambani's statement after SC verdict on Rafale deal: I welcome the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court today, summarily dismissing all PILs filed on the Rafale contracts and conclusively establishing the complete falsity of the wild, baseless and politically-motivated allegations levelled against Reliance Group and me personally. We remain committed to India's national security and to making our humble contribution towards the 'Make in India' and 'Skill India' policies of the Government in the critical area of defence, including our offset partnership agreement with our valued partner, Dassault Aviation of France.

# Rajya Sabha adjourned after ruckus over Rafale deal verdict.

# BJP president Amit Shah expected to address a press conference on the Rafale deal at 1 pm on Friday.

# Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeks debate on Rafale deal in Rajya Sabha.

# Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says that there is no need of any committee, considering that the Supreme Court has ruled that there is no irregularity in the Rafale fighter jets deal.

# "There is no reason for interference in the choice of offset partner and perception of individuals can't be the basis for roving inquiry in sensitive issue of defence procurement," says CJI Ranjan Gogoi.

The Chief Justice further said, "we can't compel government to purchase 126 aircrafts and its not proper for the court to examine each aspect of this case. It isn't a job of court to compare pricing details."

# The court further said that the "earlier deal was not forthcoming".

# The Supreme Court has also said that it is not its job to get into the issue of pricing.

# On the issue of offset partner, the Supreme Court says that it is upto the ventor and not the central government to decide on the same. According to Bar & Bench, the top court added, "It is not the job of this court to go into it."

# The verdict cannot be based on the belief of some people, says SC Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

# The Supreme Court has dismissed all the petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into Rafale deal.

# There will be no special investigation team to probe Rafale fighter jets deal, says Supreme Court.