Modi govt serving hundred lies to hide one truth: Congress on AG's 'U Turn' on Rafale files

A day after claiming in the Supreme Court that the documents on the Rafale fighter jet deal had been stolen from the defence ministry, attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, going back on his word, on Friday claimed the papers were not stolen and what he meant to tell the apex court was that petitioners demanding a probe into the deal had used "photocopies of the original papers”, which have been deemed secret by the government.

Reacting to this, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government was "serving hundred lies to hide one truth"

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According to media reports, the Attorney general, in a damage control exercise on Friday, said, "I am told that the opposition has alleged what was argued (in SC) was that files had been stolen from the Defence Ministry. This is wholly incorrect. The statement that files have been stolen is wholly incorrect."

The government statement in the court that documents on the Rafale deal had been stolen from the defence ministry had drawn it flak from the Congress.

Further, the attorney general's statement that anyone publishing the said documents would face action under the official secrets act had evoked condemnation from media organisations and the opposition.

What did Centre tell Supreme Court?

"These documents were stolen from the Defence Ministry either by former or present employees. These are secret documents and can't be in the public domain," the Attorney General has been quoted by NDTV.

When Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi asked what action has been taken, the Centre said the government is probing into the matter.

"It is a criminal offence. We are objecting preliminary because secret documents can't be annexed with the petition. Review and perjury petitions must be dismissed," the Attorney General was quoted by NDTV.

The Hindu report on Rafale pointing finger at Modi government:

In its first report, The Hindu had claimed that the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) held parallel parleys with the French government prompting the Defence Ministry to object to the separate talks.

The Defence Ministry's objection was quoted by The Hindu, "We may advise PMO that any officers who are not part of Indian Negotiating Team may refrain from having parallel parlays [parleys] with the officers of French Government....in case the PMO is not confident about the outcome of negotiations being carried out by the MoD, a revised modality of negotiations to be led by PMO at appropriate level may be adopted in the case.”

The second report stated the Indian government made some unprecedented concessions to France in the Rafale deal.

Days before the signing of the deal, as the newspaper reported, India dropped provisions for anti-corruption penalties and making payments through an escrow account.

In the third report pointing a finger at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, The Hindu stated three Defence Ministry officials had arrived at a conclusion that the Rafale deal (buying of 36 fighter jets from France) made by the Narendra Modi government was not on "better terms" than the one made by the UPA government.

The three Defence Ministry officials, who were the domain experts on the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team (INT), also concluded that the delivery schedule of the first 18 of 36 jets in the new deal was slower than the original procurement process.

Under the Congress-led UPA government, which ruled the country from 2004 to 2014, India has signed a deal to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets.