Court verdict in Jaya Jaitly case highlights need to probe truth in Rafale deal: Congress

Terming the court verdict in the Jaya Jaitly Case as an evidence of the corruption by the NDA in Defence deals, the Congress on Friday said that the court verdict highlights the need to investigate the truth in the Rafale Deal.

The party also demanded an apology from the BJP to the nation for 'rampant corruption' in defence deals.

“Post Conviction of Bangaru Laxman and Mrs Jaya Jaitly and others, BJP owes an apology and an explanation to the Nation for rampant corruption, compromise on national security and weakening of defence structure under the NDA regime,” Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said at a press conference through video conferencing on Friday.

“The verdict of the Court in the Jaya Jaitly Case highlights the need to investigate the truth of Rafale Deal. It proves that truth needs to be investigated and is not what the BJP says,” he added.

He said that the verdict of the court shows the corrupt character of the BJP.

“The judgment of the Special Judge, District Court, New Delhi convicting Jaya Jaitly and Others (Ex-President of Samata Party and ally of the BJP Government) for accepting bribe, while sitting in the house of the then Defence Minister (2001) of the NDA Government, under Section 120B, IPC & Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act read with the earlier judgment of the CBI Court dated 26.04.2012 convicting Ex-BJP President Bangaru Laxman for accepting bribe sitting in the BJP Office highlights NDA-BJP’s corrupt character,” he said.

“The two verdicts prove that BJP and their partners are not 'corruption free' but 'investigation free' and the truth surrounding the Rafale Deal is not what the BJP says but needs to be thoroughly investigated by an independent agency. The BJP must come out of ‘celebration mode’ and engage in ‘explanation mode’ to answer the three pertinent following unanswered questions (amongst others) with regard to Rafale deal,” he said.

These are:

--Why was the cost of each aircraft inflated to Rs 1,670 crore instead of Rs 526 Crores ?

--Why only 36 aircraft’s were bought instead of 126?

--Why was the Rs 30,000 crore contract of HAL scrapped to accommodate Mr Anil Ambani?

He said that the capability of Rafale does not give immunity to BJP from accountability on the issues of inflated costs, bypassing of rules and regulations and giving preference to a zero experience private player over a Public Sector Undertaking.

Referring to Operation 'West End' of 2001, he said, “there should have been transparency on government's defence agreement. Laws should have been followed. Operation 'West End' exposed it all, it was a black day”.

“This operation led to two major revelations. Ex-BJP President Bangaru Laxman was caught on camera taking a bribe in his own office. The bribe was for HHTI and a UK company promised that HHTI contract would be awarded to you. Former BJP president Bangaru Laxman ji was sentenced to 4 years in prison after it was found that he was taking bribes in his own office in 2012,” he added.

“Now Operation 'Westend' Judgment- 2 has come. Ms Jaya Jaitly and her accomplices have been sentenced to prison for taking bribes while sitting at the house of the Defence Minister,” he said.

The Congress spokesperson alleged that BJP’s decisions are not for the country's security but for securing their own pockets.

“For them it’s about profiteering not about looking at the interests of the country,” he said.

Demanding apology from the BJP for corruption in defence deals, he said, “Congress demands BJP-NDA must apologise for rampant corruption in defence deals. Truth is out that current govt compromises on national interest. The BJP President and the Prime Minister owe an apology and owe an explanation to the nation for NDA-BJP leadership’s pivotal & instrumental role in hoodwinking the nation and compromising on national security for their own enrichment.”