Supreme Court: The Bench comprising of CJ Ranjan Gogoi and S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph, JJ. pronounced the ‘Rafale Deal’ verdict after it had reserved its judgment on the same, today by dismissing the petitions seeking probe into the deal.
Pointers as stated by the bench :
“No occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale Jets. and Minor variations in clauses should not amount to the setting aside of the contract.”
CJ Ranjan Gogoi: There cannot be a uniform standard of judicial review in defence matters.
CJI: It isn’t a job of Court to compare pricing details.
“Our country cannot be unprepared. Talked to senior IAF officers who pointed out the need for 4th and 5th generation fighter jets. “Not correct for the Court to sit as an appellate authority on each and every aspect of the deal.”
“We cannot use our powers of judicial review to compare prices between earlier Rafale ROP and present deal for 36 jets. On the ground of national security ‘, we say no more'”.
Further, the bench stated that “We cannot go into the wisdom of why the deal for 36 Rafale jets were made and not the original 126 aircraft. We cannot ask the government to go for 126.
Source: The Hindu
