Jaitley said the fictioneering had compromised national security.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley came down with a stinging attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his party, accusing them of coming up with "falsehoods" and "fiction writing" and put national security in jeopardy by raising a brouhaha over the deal to purchase Dassault Rafale multirole jet fighter aircraft.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaitley accused Rahul Gandhi of playing fast and loose with the truth. "Every figure put out by Rahul Gandhi is false. If honest deals in the interest of national security are brought under a cloud, our civil servants and officers of defence forces will think 10 times before going forward with processes in the larger security interests of the country," he said.
"The entire imaginary thought process, fiction writing, that one person had decided it, that there was no price negotiation committee, no contract negotiation committee, no Defence Acquisition Council, no Cabinet Committee on Security. Was there fiction writing going on with national security? This was fiction writing which was compromising with national security," Jaitley said.
"There's been always a fundamental difference between truth and falsehood. Truth always holds together, it explains everything. Falsehood is bound to fall apart, indeed it has. Falsehood also has a very short life. In this case it was a few months. And falsehood always lowers the credibility of its creator. The Rafale issue had each of these features," he said.
"… the disruptors have lost, and they have lost on all counts. They have lost on the count that the need for this aircraft, a combat aircraft, was acute and necessary. The Air Force needed it. And therefore, somebody has to answer a question. That after shortlisting this purchase both in terms of quality and cost, why was it virtually stopped, if not abandoned, in 2012. Why was national security compromised with?" he added.
Quoting the Supreme Court's observations from Friday morning, Nirmala said the court had put the entire matter to rest.
The apex court had dismissed PILs seeking a court-monitored investigations into allegations of graft in the deal to purchase the fighter jets from France. The court had said it was not its job to look into comparing pricing details. It also said the "belief" of individuals cannot be a basis for a roving inquiry into sensitive defence procurements.
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