The central government on Saturday filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court in the Rafale case and said the December 14, 2018 judgment which upheld the deal of 36 Rafale jets was correct.

In the affidavit, the Centre said unsubstantiated media reports and incomplete file notes cannot form the basis for a review.

The government said monitoring of the progress of the Rafale deal by the PMO cannot be construed as interference or parallel negotiations. The affidavit added that the then Defence Minister had recorded on file: "it appears that PMO and French President’s office are monitoring the progress of the issues which was an outcome of the summit meeting".

Earlier this month, a Supreme Court bench dismissed objections raised by the Centre regarding pleas asking for a review of the apex court's decision on the Rafale deal.

Delivering a unanimous verdict, the court had dismissed the Centre's preliminary objections seeking review of earlier judgment giving a clean chit to the Union government in the Rafale deal.

On March 14, the apex court had reserved verdict on the preliminary objections raised by the Centre on admissibility of privileged documents annexed by former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and also activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan in their review petition against the top court's December 14 judgment.

The Centre had claimed privilege over documents pertaining to the Rafale fighter jet deal with France and said those documents cannot be considered in evidence as per Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act.