Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the Rafale jet fighter deal is “not worth the paper it is printed on” as it does not include the dissent note by the expert negotiating team.

At a press conference called within hours after the federal auditor tabled the performance audit report on capital acquisition of the Indian Air Force in the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition Leader said while he does not agree with the findings of the report, its conclusion that the 36 Rafale jet deal by the BJP-led NDA government through an inter-governmental agreement (IGA) is 2.86 per cent cheaper than an earlier deal for 126 jets, “proves that the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister lied to Parliament when they said the price difference was between 9-20 per cent”.

Fresh revelations

Quoting fresh revelations in The Hindu on Wednesday, based on the notings by three domain experts who were part of the Indian Negotiating Team (INT), which pointed out that the new deal worked out by the BJP through the IGA was “not on better terms” than the deal being negotiated by the previous UPA government, Gandhi said the Centre’s twin rationale for negotiating a fresh deal has been “totally demolished”.

Refuting rationale

“They said that the new deal was worked out because it would be cheaper and bring the aircraft earlier. The note by the technical and financial experts in the negotiating team has totally demolished these two reasons. The only reason for the new deal is to give ₹30,000 crore to Anil Ambani,” the Congress chief alleged.

Gandhi questioned why the note by three domain experts was not factored in by the CAG in India in its audit report.

To another question on the CAG report, he said, “In my opinion, any audit of a deal that does not take into account the considered opinion of the technical and financial experts on the deal is not worth the paper it is written on.”

Gandhi asserted that the fresh revelations in The Hindu have validated the accusation that there is a scam in the Rafale jet deal. “When the domain experts are putting their objections in writing, they are distancing themselves from the corruption in the deal. They will not be held liable if there is an enquiry into the deal,” said Gandhi.

On SC order

To a question about the government’s assertion that the Congress’s accusations about a scam in the Rafale deal have been refuted by the Supreme Court (SC) earlier, and by the CAG now, Gandhi said, “I want to ask — was this note by the domain experts presented to the SC? The facts were hidden.”

The Congress President reiterated the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee enquiry into the deal.

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