Rafale Verdict LIVE: SC Says CAG Report Given to PAC, But Where is it, Asks Rahul Gandhi

In its judgement, SC says CAG report on Rafale deal given to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee. But PAC has not received report: Rahul Gandhi

On Congress’s latest jibe over the Rafale deal, Rahul Gandhi said, “Only PM Modi knows what happened in France.” He questioned why an aircraft of Rs 526 crore was purchased at Rs 1600 crore. He also asked why was Rafale not given to HAL.

Talking about the Rafale verdict, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't want to be exposed in front of media. 

BJP leaders continued to attack the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the Supreme Court judgment on Rafale. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the latest to join the brigade. "Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the people of the country as his lies have been expose," he said.

If honest deals are questioned; civil servants, armed forces will think twice before undertaking such a process in future: Jaitley

Allegations on Rafale was fiction writing that was compromising national security, Arun Jaitley said on SC judgemnet on Rafale deal. "All the figures by the Govt are correct and all the figures by Mr Rahul Gandhi are false and I have justified it... The truth has only one version and falsehood has many. That is why Mr Rahul Gandhi quoted several figures," Arun Jaitley added.

Arun Jaitley said that Rafale deal has protected both the security and commercial interest of India 

Jaitley added that the original manufacturer decide the offset partner.    

Terming the Congress's allegations on Rafale as falsehood, Jaitley said that the falsehood lowers the credibility of its creator.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaking on Rafale verdict, quoted the Supreme Court, "no more as the material has to be kept in confidential domain." She further said that it has been mentioned that a country cannot afford to be unprepared at the skies. 
 

 Attorney General K K Venugopal on Friday welcomed as "excellent" the Supreme Court verdict in the Rafale deal case, and said it has given a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government.  "I think a clean chit has been given to the government on Rafale deal," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function to give farewell to Justice Madan B Lokur, who is set to retire on December 30. "Superme Court judgement on Rafale deal is excellent and I am extremely happy," Venugopal said, adding, "The court has accepted all our arguments".

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Friday said the Congress has a "history of telling lies" and the Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal is a triumph of truth. "Finally the truth has come up. The Congress has a history of telling lies and indulging in scams. The truth of Rafale deal has come up---Satyameva Jayate (truth triumphs)," the chief minister of BJP-ruled Jharkhand said in a statement.

"Congress, Rahul Gandhi and some opposition parties have been making false allegations against PM Modi and our government over Rafale Deal. Today SC has categorically rejected all those allegations and upheld the transparent manner in which the entire deal has been worked out. It is time the opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, go before the people and apologise for the misleading propaganda and lies that they pedalled all these months and they should go to Parliament and say sorry," says senior leader Ram Madhav. 

The Parliament Will Reach a Conclusion on the Rafale Deal, Not the SC: Shiv Sena | Reacting to the Supreme Court's verdict on the Rafale deal, Shiv Sena has said that there is nothing wrong with the decision taken by the court as "deciding on pricing is not the Supreme Court's job but similarly deciding on building Ram Temple is also not their job." The issue of Rafale deal will be sorted out in the Parliament and not the SC." the party claims. 

Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena: Supreme Court has said nothing wrong, deciding on pricing is not the Supreme Court's job but similarly deciding on building Ram Temple is also not their job. #RafaleDeal issue will be sorted out in Parliament and not in SC. pic.twitter.com/NUi9VIThJL

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2018

"All I have to tell Amit Shah is that he should refrain from making such immature statements," says senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal. "Amit Shah doesn't know that it is only the JPC that can reveal truth in the Rafale deal," he added. Puncturing Shah's exuding confidence over BJP's political preponderance, he says "Amit Shah said that he will rule India for 50 years, what would he know."

 Amit Shah dares Congress to engage in a debate on the Rafale deal in the Parliament and says the opposition party can take as much time as it wants for its arguments so that the nation can learn the truth. “A JPC is only formed after there is a debate in the Parliament, but Congress keeps running away from it,” he says.  

"Today it has been proven that Chowkidaar is not a chor," Shah said. The truth has triumphed in the Supreme court today and Rahul Gandhi owes the people, soldiers of this country an apology, he added. 

Shah Demands Rahul Reveals His Source of Information | "On what basis did Rahul Gandhi level all these allegations? The people of the country want to know who was his source of information," Amit Shah said. The UPA government was never engaged in government to government deals and has been grappled with a history of corruption," Shah further alleged. "Now Rahul must reveal his source of information to all of us," he added. 

Gandhi Must Aplogise for Putting National Security Under Threat | "The truth has prevailed in the Supreme Court and the verdict has left Rahul Gandhi silenced. He must apologize as he put the national security of the county in jeopardy," said Shah. Dispelling all allegations against the BJP government, Shah said that the government was not involved in any sense in selecting offset partners and theverdict today has once again proved the same. 

Rahul Gandhi Lied for Political Gains, Alleges Shah | BJP president Amit Shah has said that the Supreme Court order on Rafale deal has exposed the Congress."President Rahul Gandhi took to lies for immediate political gains. This was one of the biggest attempts of misleading the nation," he added. 

"In matters like Rafale Parliament is Supreme and nothing should be concluded from these PILs in SC that have been dismissed," said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. 

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress: Our demand was for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and it still stands,main issue is pricing which SC said it did not want to comment as it is not in its jurisdiction.Home Minister is speaking on an incomplete judgement given on a PIL #RafaleDeal pic.twitter.com/g1SUX3nIny

— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2018

Can't see how Rafale remains election issue after SC verdict: Omar Abdullah | National Conference leader Omar Abdullah Friday said he did not see the Rafale deal remaining an election issue in view of the verdict given by the Supreme court. "Can't see how #RafaleDeal remains an election issue after this," Omar wrote on Twitter after the top court verdict.

In a major relief for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Supreme Court on Friday gave the 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.

Nitin Gadkari Reacts | Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reacted to the Supreme Court verdict on Rafale Deal through a tweet, saying that there is a clear difference between business cycle downturns and financial fraud and his statement specifally talks about the former. "Fraud is completely unacceptable," he added. 

There is a clear difference between business cycle downturns and financial fraud. My statement is about support during downturns to protect jobs. FRAUD is completely UNACCEPTABLE.

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) December 14, 2018

Amit Shah Questions Rahul Gandhi's Motives: BJP chief Amit Shah has hailed the Supreme Court verdict, saying “Truth always triumphs!” “The court’s judgment on the Rafale deal exposes the campaign of misinformation spearheaded by Congress President for political gains. The court didn’t find anything wrong with the process nor did it find any commercial favouritism in the deal,” he tweeted, adding that it raises obvious questions on the motive of those working to discredit the deal, which is important for India.

Congress Says SC Was Not Right Forum to Probe Rafale Deal: The Congress is not backing down in the Rafale row and has doubled down on its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the defence deal after the BJP demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi after the SC clean chit. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the verdict is in fact a validation of what the Congress stated a month ago - that SC is not a forum to discuss the modalities of Rafale deal. “The only forum is a JPC which should probe the corruption in the Rafale deal. What the government presented in SC is a one-sided story. Most facts presented are not available in the public domain,” he said, adding that the Congress will continue to demand JPC in Parliament. “If PM Modi thinks that there is nothing to hide then on behalf of Congress I dare BJP to bring in JPC. There is a reason why the Congress never approached the SC on the Rafale matter. Surjewala: We set up a JPC for Bofors, why not for Rafale?” he asked.

From the courtroom, the Rafale row has now shifted to the Parliament as a chorus of “Rahul maafi maango” rings in the Lok Sabha. Leading the charge for the BJP is home minister Rajnath Singh who says that Congress should apologise to the nation. “No questions can now be raised on the Rafale deal. The SC has given a decisive verdict on Rafale. Congress has been involved in many scams so they think that all are involved,” he said.

Congress’ Anand Sharma says there is no reason for the BJP and the government to celebrate the SC order as it is has not gone into all details. "The SC said that it is not proper for us to go into details. The cost was inflated and the tech was not transferred to India. The court did not look into these aspects,” he said.

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma says the party will insist on a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into Rafale Deal. Questioning the SC order, he says that the bench has not gone into all details. Home minister Rajnath Singh has already made it clear that it would not allow a JPC probe into the deal.