Responding to the Supreme Court’s direction during the last hearing on the controversial issue, the Centre has submitted an affidavit on the Rafale aircraft deal in a sealed cover. The government has reportedly told the court that the process laid down in the Defence Procurement Procedure, 2013, was strictly followed. The Rafale issue has become a major weapon for the Congress during current campaigning for state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

Last month, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and former Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie moved the Supreme Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the deal.

On October 10, the bench had asked the Centre to submit the “details of the steps” taken in the decision making process, sans pricing and technical information. Twenty days later, the court directed the Centre to submit more details – including pricing and strategic details – related to the agreement in a sealed envelope within 10 days.

The court will hear the matter next on November 14.

—India Legal Bureau