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Rafale corruption: Was Rahul Gandhi right? PM Modi’s difficulties may increase
According to media reports, a few days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to France, French investigative website Mediapar has revealed that the Paris Magistrate has sent an official request to the Government of India.
In which cooperation has been sought in the ongoing investigation regarding payments allegedly made through Dassault Aviation as part of the deal in 2015-16 for the sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets to India.
Philippine report says, ‘Magistrates are of particular interest in studying case files of two Indian investigations which, as Mediapar previously reported – contain detailed evidence that Dassault used intelligence to get the deal in 2016’ Apparently paid several million Euros to an Indian middleman Sushen Gupta.
It is not known what will be the Indian reaction regarding this. Such requests are usually routed through the Ministry of External Affairs and processed through the relevant department in India.
Most likely the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Ministry of Finance, which handle the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), in this case.
According to Wikipedia, the Rafale deal controversy is a political dispute in India relating to the purchase of 36 Rafale multirole fighter jets by the Indian Ministry of Defense from France’s Dassault Aviation at an estimated cost of €7.87 billion (₹58,891 crore). The core of the deal lies in the Indian MMRCA competition, a multi-billion dollar contract for the supply of 126 multi-role fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF) with transfer of technology.
On 14 December 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the Rafale deal saying that no irregularities or corruption had been found. The Supreme Court delivered the final legal verdict on the dispute on 14 November 2019 and dismissed all petitions seeking review of its December 2018 judgement. A French judge has been appointed to lead a judicial inquiry into alleged corruption and favoritism in the deal in June 2021.
