What Did the Court Say on 14 November?
While reserving the verdict, the apex court had said that the pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decides on whether to make it public.
The observation by an apex court bench had came after the government refused to publicly divulge pricing details of the deal, saying it would give advantage to India’s enemies.
While hearing a bunch of pleas alleging criminality in Rafale deal and seeking court-monitored probe into it, the apex court had asked wide-ranging questions from the government on issues including lack of sovereign guarantee from the French government, selection of Indian offset partner by the Dassault Aviation and need of entering into Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France.
The court had taken note of submissions and counter arguments on pricing of the fighter jets with the petitioners alleging that the government has been giving "bogus arguments" and "hiding behind the secrecy clause".
Vehemently defending non-disclosure of price publicly, Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for Centre had said that the cost of a bare Rafale jet as per 2016 exchange rate was Rs 670 crore and the disclosure of price of a "fully loaded" aircraft would give an "advantage to the adversaries".
Bhushan had claimed that the Union Law Ministry had red-flagged two issues -- absence of sovereign guarantee by France and international arbitration clause in IGA as per which the arbitration seat would be at Geneva -- but the government went ahead with the deal.
Venugopal had admitted that there was no sovereign guarantee, but said that France has given a 'letter of comfort' which would be good enough as a governmental guarantee.
The court during the hearing on the bunch of pleas had also interacted senior Indian Air Force (IAF) officers and enquired about the requirements of the force.
The IAF officers had emphasised in the apex court the need for induction of 'four plus or fifth' generation fighter aircraft like Rafale, which have niche stealth technology and enhanced electronic warfare capabilities
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BJP MPs Move Breach of Privilege Notice Against Rahul
As the BJP stepped up attack on Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale issue, three members of the ruling party in the Lok Sabha moved a notice of breach of privilege against the Congress president, alleging that he spoke "falsehood" and "misled the House" over the fighter aircraft deal in his speech during a debate in July.
BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey and Sanjay Jaiswal have sought action against Gandhi over his speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in Parliament's Monsoon Session.
PAC May Not Summon AG, CAG as Majority of Members Against Kharge's Proposal
The PAC might not summon attorney general and the CAG over the public auditor's report on Rafale deal, as a majority of the members, including those from opposition parties, are not in favour of the proposal by panel chairman Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had Friday claimed the Supreme Court in its verdict cited a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the deal that was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), but he asserted that no such report was given to the House panel headed by Kharge.
Jaitley Rules out Setting up JPC on Rafale Deal
Ruling out referring the Rafale deal to a parliamentary panel, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Congress, calling it "bad losers" and said the CAG's view of the deal is not relevant after the Supreme Court's clean chit.
With the first four days of winter session of Parliament washed out over various protests, Jaitley said the opposition Congress will prefer disruptions over discussion on Rafale during the remainder of the session.
The Congress, which was not a petitioner before the apex court, wants the Rafale deal to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to go into the price arrived at by the BJP government versus the one negotiated by the previous UPA regime, as also how billionaire Anil Ambani's group with virtually no experience in manufacture of fighter jets was selected as an offset partner for the deal.
"After the Supreme Court has spoken the last word, it gets legitimacy. A political body can never come to a finding contrary to what the Court has said," Jaitley wrote in a Facebook blog, titled 'Rafale - Lies, Shortlived lies and now further lies?'.
Cong Addressed Press Conference on Rafale Row
Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma addressed a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. The Congress leadership touched upon the issue of the recent SC verdict on the Rafale row. Sharma said that it is unfortunate that the prime minister and his government are trying to avoid investigation.