Kharge says he may request PAC to summon AG, CAG on Rafale

NEW DELHI: Amid accusations that the Centre misled the Supreme Court over the Rafale deal which led to a judicial all-clear, Congress leader and Public Accounts Committee chairman Mallikarjuna Kharge on Saturday said the panel may summon the AG and the CAG to clarify matters.

Making its aggressive intent clear, Congress continued to press for a JPC probe by saying that only the parliamentary panel can "examine witnesses on oath like PM Narendra Modi". It said the court had not gone into the issues of pricing and technical aspects of Rafale jets, and a JPC was required to probe the deal.

The court verdict on the deal has triggered a firestorm as it mentions that CAG report on Rafale pricing has been submitted and PAC has vetted it, a fact contradicted by all. Congress accused the government of misleading the SC by presenting wrong facts and demanded that it apologise to the nation, even as it dubbed its clarification as a bid to avoid contempt. "I will request PAC members to call AG and the CAG to ask them when was the CAG report on the Rafale deal tabled in Parliament," Kharge said.

Senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi said, "BJP has hoodwinked the nation and cheated the people. Now, it has the guts to do the same to mislead the apex court... This amounts to contempt of court, breach of privilege as well as perjury."

Another legal eagle Kapil Sibal said, "There are factual bloopers in the judgment for which the government is responsible and not the court. If you give wrong facts to the court and on that basis, the court makes factual assertions, in that case it's government which is responsible."