New Delhi: The Supreme Court rejected the plea seeking a fresh inquiry into the Rafale deal. The petitioner had approached the court seeking a fresh probe in the wake of media reports that French company Dassault Aviation had paid bribes to a middleman in India. However, a bench comprising Chief Justice UU Lalit stated that based on the reports released by the French media, the Public Interest Litigation seeking an investigation into the Rafale deal cannot be considered.
In the PIL filed by Advocate ML Sharma, it has been demanded that an inquiry should be conducted including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the court also pointed out that the petitioner has not raised any case regarding the intervention of the Supreme Court. After the order, the appellant again filed an application seeking permission to withdraw the petition. The application was accepted by the Supreme Court. The petitioner also pointed out that a complaint has been filed before the CBI.
In November last year, the French media Mediapart came out with new evidence. Mediapart reports that Dassault Aviation paid Rs 65 crore to middleman Sushen Gupta for the deal. Mediapart had earlier reported that Sushen Gupta was the middleman in the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France.
