He stopped shy of assuring the authenticity of the tapes in Lok Sabha, but declared the same at a press conference later.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took to a press conference at his party headquarters to claim that the purported tape of Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar claiming to have files relating to the Rafale deal were authentic. His assertion came just hours after he had stopped shy of backing its authenticity on the record in Lok Sabha.
However, the Congress chief used his press conference to allege that the secret tapes showed that Parrikar, who earlier served as Defence Minister, was blackmailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi using the Rafale files.
However, Rahul claimed that the purported Parrikar tape on Rafale was authentic, and alleged there might be other tapes. This came soon after spokespersons of his own party had called on Union Minister Rajnath Singh to use the CBI to authenticate the tape through a raid on Parrikar’s residence.
Both Parrikar and Goa Health Minister Vishvajit Rane, who were the voices on the tape according to the Congress, have categorically denied that it was them.
During his speech in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Rafale deal, Rahul had also sought permission to play the audio clip in the House. When he was denied permission, he and his party members had protested vociferously.
However, the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure clearly prohibit the playing of any audio clips in the House. Under the section titled ‘Rules To Be Observed By Members’, Rule 349 (xxii) states “Whilst the House is sitting, a member shall not bring or play cassette or tape recorder in the House.”
Rahul’s refusal to assure the authenticity of the tape in the Lok Sabha, despite his declaration at the press conference, could also have proved problematic under Rule 369 (1) of the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure, which says, “A paper or document to be laid on the Table shall be duly authenticated by the member presenting it.”
“I asked the Lok Sabha Speaker can I play the tape. Speaker refused to allow me to play it, so there was no question of authenticity of the tape there,” Rahul maintained at the press conference.
He also challenged Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi to debate the Rafale deal with him one-on-one. He also questioned why the defence of the Rafale deal in Parliament was being carried out by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and not Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman or Prime Minister Modi, who had announced the deal during his visit to France in April 2015.
The Congress chief also answered a hypothetical question with an assurance that if his party comes to power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it would investigate the Rafale deal.
Rahul also defended the opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Rafale deal despite the reversal at the Supreme Court, saying the top court had never said there shouldn’t be an investigation to a JPC to look into the deal to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets.
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