Will summon AG, CAG over ‘lie’ to SC that PAC saw Rafale report: Kharge

New Delhi, Dec 15: Congress leader Mallikajun Kharge, who heads the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said on Saturday he has not seen the Rafale report and accused the government of lying to the top court to get a clean chit.

A day after the Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal, PAC chairman Kharge said that he will request all members of the panel to summon the Attorney General and the CAG to ask them when was the public auditor's report tabled in Parliament.

The senior Congress leader accused the government of "misleading" the Supreme Court by presenting wrong facts about the CAG report on the Rafale deal and demanded that the government should apologise for it.

"The government lied in the SC that the CAG report was presented in the House and before the PAC and the PAC has probed it. The government said in SC that it (the CAG report) is in public domain. Where is it? Have you seen it?" Kharge said while speaking to reporters on Saturday.

Kharge also said they respect the Supreme Court, but it is not a probe agency and only a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) can investigate the alleged corruption in the Rafale deal.

"I will request the PAC members to call the Attorney General (AG) and the Comptroller and Auditor General to ask them when was the CAG report on the Rafale deal tabled in Parliament," he told reporters.

Kharge also cited the Supreme Court judgement that stated that the CAG report on Rafale pricing had been tabled in Parliament and discussed in the PAC. "When has the CAG discussed the PAC report. It has not been table so far. Wrong information is being feeded in the Supreme Court, it is a matter of shock...Government should apologise for misleading SC by presenting wrong facts on CAG report before Supreme Court," he said.

The Supreme Court on Friday morning ruled that there was no reason to doubt the decision-making process behind the Rafale jet deal, clearing the government, which has been repeatedly accused by the Congress of corruption in the Rs. 59,000-crore contract.

The court rejected a probe and dismissed petitions that had alleged that the government had gone for an overpriced deal to help Anil Ambani's company bag an offset contract with jet-maker Dassault. "There is no evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity," it said.