France begins judicial probe into Rafale deal, Rafale deal: French media France begins judicial probe into Rafale deal with India

New Delhi: A French judge has been entrusted with a “very sensitive” judicial probe into the alleged “corruption and profit-making” in the Rs 59,000-crore Rafale jet deal with India. French news website ‘Media Part’ has claimed this in its report. Regarding this report, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come forward and order a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the ‘Rafale scam’.

“The latest revelations that have happened in France prove that there was corruption in the Rafale deal,” he told reporters. The words of Congress and Rahul Gandhi proved to be correct. Now this scam has come in front of everyone. However, there has been no response from the government or the BJP on the matter so far.

According to ‘Media Part’, the investigation regarding this deal between the two governments formally started on June 14. The deal was signed between France and India in 2016. “A judicial inquiry into suspected corruption has begun in France in connection with the 2016 EUR 7.8 billion deal to sell 36 Rafale aircraft to India,” the website’s report said. It said the investigation has been initiated by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF). A probe by PNF has been ordered after a report from the ‘media part’ surfaced in April and a complaint was filed by French NGO ‘Sherpa’ about alleged irregularities in the deal.

This French website said, ‘On 14 June a very sensitive judicial inquiry into this deal between the two governments was formally started.’ Journalist Yan Filipin, belonging to ‘Media Part’, said the first complaint filed in 2019 was suppressed by the former PNF chief. In April, the website had claimed that Dassault Aviation, the maker of the Rafale aircraft, had paid one million euros to an Indian middleman, citing an investigation by the French Anti-Corruption Agency. Dassault Aviation had refuted the allegation and said that there was no breach of contract.

The aircraft deal was signed by the BJP-led NDA government on September 23, 2016. The Congress alleges that there was a large-scale irregularity in the deal and an aircraft worth Rs 526 crore was paid Rs 1,670 crore. He made it a big issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The allegations were refuted by the BJP and the government on several occasions and it was stated that the Supreme Court had given a clean chit in the matter.