PAC meeting in a tizzy over CAG report on Rafale deal

Days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government's reply to the Supreme Court on the Rafale verdict was misleading as Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Mallikarjun Kharge has no idea of the Comptroller and Auditor General's reports on the deal, the first meeting of the PAC during the ongoing Parliament session saw some fireworks.

During the meeting held on December 20, Congress MPs put forth a demand for details on the CAG report on the Rafale deal, leading to protests from several BJP MPs. Sources said that Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda was the first to put forward the demand. Gowda said that the PAC should, in the least, ask the CAG about when it intends to file the report. He further said the PAC should ask for a status report on the audit.

This led to a chorus of protests on the matter, with BJP MPs contending that since CAG is an autonomous body, PAC cannot demand for any report. In response to this, Gowda said while PAC might not be in a position to demand, it can certainly ask for the status as the Rafale deal is an "unprecedented issue".

Sources said that Kharge eventually sought to soothe matters and said that PAC would wait as he did not want the discussions to lead to a confrontation of any sort. Kharge is said to have spoken of the need to remain non-partisan as the head of the committee.

Of the 22 members of the PAC, 12 are from the BJP while the Congress has three and the TMC has two members. The TDP, SAD, BJD, Shiv Sena and AIADMK all have a member each. Apart from Gowda and Kharge, Congress's Bhubaneswar Kalita, too, is a part of the committee. During the December 20 meeting, described by an attendee as a "perfunctory one", those present include BJP MPs Kirit Somaiya, Bhupender Yadav, Shivkumar Udasi, apart from TMC's Sukhendu Sekhar Roy.

The government had deposed in front of the Supreme Court that the pricing of Rafale jet deal has been examined by the CAG and PAC. On the day of the SC verdict, where the apex court said that the judiciary is not the right forum for the investigation on the matter, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi hit out at the government saying that it lied to the court as PAC chairman Kharge was not privy to it. A day later, the government stated that it was filing an application on the matter as there was a "typing error".

PAC vs CAG

• During December 20 PAC meeting, Congress MPs put forth a demand for details on the CAG report on Rafale deal. 
• This saw protests from BJP members who said PAC cannot ask CAG for a report as it is an autonomous body.