France begins judicial probe into Rafale deal with India: French media
A French decide has been appointed to guide a “highly sensitive” judicial investigation into alleged “corruption and favouritism” within the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with India, French investigative web site Mediapart reported.
Following the event, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to return ahead and order a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale deal.
“Corruption in the Rafale deal has come out clearly now. The stand of the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi has been vindicated today after the French government has ordered a probe,” he informed reporters at a press convention.
However, there was no rapid response from the Indian authorities or the BJP.
The Mediapart stated the probe into the inter-governmental deal signed in 2016 was formally opened on June 14.
“A judicial probe into suspected corruption has been opened in France over the 7.8-billion-euro sale to India in 2016 of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter aircraft,” the Mediapart reported on the newest growth on the controversial deal.
It stated the investigation has been initiated by the nationwide monetary prosecutors’ workplace (PNF).
The judicial investigation has been ordered by France’s nationwide monetary prosecutors’ workplace, following Mediapart’s recent reviews in April of alleged wrongdoings within the deal in addition to a criticism filed by French NGO Sherpa that specialises in monetary crime.
“The highly sensitive probe into the inter-governmental deal signed off in 2016 was formally opened on June 14th,” the media report stated.
Mediapart journalist Yann Philippin, who filed a collection of reviews on the deal, stated a primary criticism was “buried” in 2019 by a former PNF chief.
“The judicial investigation was finally opened following the revelations of the investigation #RafalePapers of @mediapart and a new complaint from @Asso_Sherpa. A 1st complaint was buried in 2019 by the former PNF boss, Eliane Houlette,” he tweeted.
In April, Mediapart, citing an investigation by the nation’s anti-corruption company, reported that Dassault Aviation had paid about a million Euros to an Indian intermediary.
Dassault Aviation has rejected the allegations of corruption, saying no violations had been reported within the body of the contract.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) authorities had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to obtain 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace main Dassault Aviation after a virtually seven-year train to obtain 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force didn’t fructify throughout the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.
The Congress accused the federal government of huge irregularities within the deal, alleging that it was procuring every plane at a price of over Rs 1,670 crore as towards Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA authorities throughout the negotiations for the MMRCA.
Prior to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the Congress raised a number of questions in regards to the deal and alleged corruption however the authorities rejected all the fees.
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