Rafale row: Centre moves SC, seeks correction in para referring to CAG report and PAC

New Delhi: The Centre on Saturday moved Supreme Court regarding the Rafale observation and sought correction in the paragraph which has a reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report and Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

A law officer said that the application has been filed to convey to the court that there has been some misinterpretation on the issue of the documents placed in a sealed cover relating to the CAG and PAC.

In the judgement on Friday, the apex court had noted that the pricing details have been shared with CAG, and the report of the CAG has been examined by the PAC.

The issue of CAG and PAC was mentioned in para 25 of the judgement of the top court which had held that there were no irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.

The judgement had said that the material placed before it shows that the Centre did not disclose in Parliament the pricing details of the Rafale fighter jet, but revealed it to the Comptroller and Auditor General. 

After the SC verdict on Friday, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who chairs the PAC, had said no such report had come to him.

Following this, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy said that if PAC chairman Kharge did not receive the CAG report on Rafale pricing, he should move the court.

Kharge and Congress president Rahul Gandhi had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government over the Rafale deal, maintaining that prices of the jets had been inflated and claimed that the CAG report on pricing was never shown to PAC.

(With inputs from agencies)