Rafale deal: Govt seeks apology from Rahul Gandhi as SC gives clean chit; All the reactions

The Supreme Court Friday gave the Narendra Modi government a clean chit on the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and dismissed all the petitions seeking a direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the multi-billion dollar deal. On the issue of offset partner, the bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said there was no substantial evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity.

The Congress has been alleging that the government had put pressure on Dassault Aviation to select RDL as its offset partner. The government, RDL and Dassault Aviation rejected the charges.

Here's how the politicians reacted to the verdict

► Supreme Court said:

There has been a necessity for fighter aircraft and the country cannot remain without jets.

It is not the job of the court to deal with the comparative details of the pricing.

There is no substantial matter to interfere with the issue of procurement, pricing and offset partner. Nobody questioned the procurement of Rafale jets when deal was finalised in September 2016.

Cannot compel the government to procure 126 or 36 fighter jets. That depends on its decision.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha. 

Rahul Gandhi should apologise on floor of the House for "misleading" country on Rafale jet deal issue.

► Congress party leaders 

→ The verdict of the Supreme Court today is a validation of what the Congress party stated months again, that SC is not the forum to decide the such sensitive defence contract: Randeep Surjewala

→ Supreme Court has not commented on many important aspects. We continue to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee(JPC) on the  RafaleDeal. JPC has the right to summon all documents: Anand Sharma

→ The Supreme Court order giving the government a clean chit on the Rafale deal is not a setback as the issue is still live in the "people's court" and the Congress will continue to raise it in Parliament: senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia 

► Reliance chief Anil Ambani welcomes SC judgment

"I welcome the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court today summarily dismissing all PILs filed on the Rafale contracts, and conclusively establishing the complete falsity of the wild, baseless and politically motivated allegations levelled against Reliance Group and me personally," Ambani said in a statement. 

"We remain committed to India's national security and to making our humble contribution towards the Make in India and Skill India policies of the Government in the critical area of defence including our offset partnership agreement with our valued partner, Dassault Aviation of France," said Ambani.

► BJP chief Amit Shah:  Truth always triumphs! Court's judgment on Rafale deal exposes campaign of misinformation spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi.

► Omar Abdullah

Can’t see how Rafale Deal remains an election issue after this, " tweeted National Conference leader.

Can’t see how #RafaleDeal remains an election issue after this.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 14, 2018

► Manohar Parrikar tweeted: Satyamev Jayate! #RafaleVerdict

In Lok Sabha, the treasury benches also mounted a counter-offensive on the opposition on the Rafale issue, seeking an apology from Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

As soon as the Question Hour was taken up, opposition members trooped into the Well carrying placards on various issues, including alleged scam in Rafale deal.

But BJP members stood up and started raising slogans against the Congress and Gandhi.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said following the SC verdict, Rahul Gandhi should apologise.

The Congress has been alleging that the government had put pressure on Dassault Aviation to select RDL as its offset partner. The government, Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) and Dassault Aviation rejected the charges.

Advocate M L Sharma was the first petitioner in the case. Later, another lawyer Vineet Dhanda had moved the apex court with the plea for court-monitored probe into the deal.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also filed a petition against the fighter jet deal.

After the three petitions were filed, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie along with activist advocate Prashant Bhushan moved the apex court with a plea for a direction to the CBI to register FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal.