Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 3: An inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the Rafale fighter jet deal with India has been initiated by the French government. A French judge has been appointed to lead a “highly sensitive” judicial investigation into alleged “corruption and favouritism” in the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale fighter jet deal with India, French investigative website Mediapart reported on Saturday.
The Mediapart said the probe into the inter-governmental deal signed in 2016 was formally opened on June 14. It said the development was confirmed by the Financial Crimes Branch of the French Public Prosecution Services on Friday.
“A judicial probe into suspected corruption has been opened in France over the 7.8-billion-euro sale to India in 2016 of 36 Dassault-built Rafale fighter aircraft,” the Mediapart reported on the latest development on the controversial deal.
The criminal investigation, Mediapart said, would “examine questions surrounding the actions” of former French president François Hollande, who was in office when the Rafale deal was inked, his successor, Emmanuel Macron, the then economy and finance minister, and foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who held the defence portfolio then.
It said the investigation has been initiated by the national financial prosecutors’ office (PNF).
Following the development, the Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Rafale deal.
“Corruption in the Rafale deal has come out clearly now. The stand of the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi has been vindicated today after the French government has ordered a probe,” he told reporters at a press conference.
However, there was no immediate reaction from the Indian government or the ruling BJP.
The judicial investigation has been ordered by France’s national financial prosecutors’ office, following Mediapart’s fresh reports in April of alleged wrongdoings in the deal as well as a complaint filed by French NGO Sherpa that specialises in financial crimes.
“The highly sensitive probe into the inter-governmental deal signed off in 2016 was formally opened on June 14th,” the Mediapart report said.
Mediapart journalist Yann Philippin, who filed a series of reports on the deal, said a first complaint was “buried” in 2019 by a former PNF chief.
“The judicial investigation was finally opened following the revelations of the investigation #RafalePapers of @mediapart and a new complaint from @Asso_Sherpa. A 1st complaint was buried in 2019 by the former PNF boss, Eliane Houlette,” he tweeted.
In April, Mediapart, citing an investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agency, reported that Dassault Aviation had paid about one million Euros to an Indian middleman.
Dassault Aviation had rejected the allegations of corruption, saying no violations were reported in the frame of the contract.
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016, to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.
The Congress accused the government of massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that it was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government during the negotiations for the MMRCA. It has also claimed the previous deal included a technology transfer agreement with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
The government has not disclosed details of the price. It has said the deal struck by the UPA in 2012 was not a viable one, implying that it would have never been closed and that, therefore, any comparison is moot. The UPA was unable to close the deal till 2014, largely over discussions related to the pricing of items not included in the initial bid.
Surjewala described the French government ordering an inquiry into the deal as “a scandalous expose of Rafale scam” that has led to “loss to public exchequer.” “The French have ordered an investigation into the Rafale deal for corruption and influence peddling. The sweetheart deal is now exposed. It calls for a thorough JPC probe. Will the PM (Prime Minister) answer to the nation and when will the government submit to a JPC probe?” he asked.
Surjewala maintained that it was not a Congress versus BJP issue but a matter related to the national security.
The French website carried a series of reports on alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal in April.
In one of the reports, Mediapart claimed that the former head of the Financial Crimes Branch, Éliane Houlette, shelved an investigation into alleged evidence of corruption in the Rafale jet deal despite the objection of colleagues. It said Houlette justified her decision saying it was made to preserve “the interests of France, the workings of institutions.”
“Now, her successor as head of the PNF, Jean-François Bohnert, has decided to support the opening of a probe, after the complaint was updated with details from Mediapart’s recent series of investigations,” Mediapart’s latest report said.
