Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday dismissed as “completely baseless” allegations appearing in media reports in France of payoffs to middlemen in the Rafale aircraft deal.
At a press conference at the party headquarters here on the resignation of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh after the Supreme Court asked the CBI to probe allegations of graft against him, Mr. Prasad also responded to questions on the French media reports.
He said the Supreme Court had rejected a demand for a probe in the purchase of the fighter aircraft and the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) had also found nothing wrong.
He said the allegations of corruption were “completely baseless” and suggested that the report about the alleged financial irregularity may be due to “corporate rivalry” in that country.
He said the Congress had raised this issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and lost badly.
The Congress had on Monday sought a thorough probe in the deal and demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a French media report claimed that €1.1 million were paid to a ‘middleman’ by the aircraft manufacturer.