Huge door opened for investigation of Rafale scam: Rahul Gandhi after SC verdict

New Delhi, Nov 14: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the Supreme Court has left open a "huge door" for an investigation into the Rafale deal.

Hours after the SC verdict, the Congress leader also called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fighter jet contract.

"Justice Joseph of the Supreme Court has opened a huge door into investigation of the RAFALE scam. An investigation must now begin in full earnest. A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) must also be set up to probe this scam," tweeted Rahul.

The Congress leaders reaction comes hours after the top court upheld its earlier verdict in the Rafale case, while rejecting a batch of petitions that sought review of December 2018 judgment.

The Supreme Court said that there is no ground to order an FIR into the procurement of the Rafale jets. There is no merit in the plea seeking probe into defence deal, the court said.

"There was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and dismissed all the petitions seeking an investigation into alleged irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, the apex court said.

A review petition had been filed challenging the clean chit given to the NDA government in the purchase of 36 fully loaded Rafale jets from France under the inter-governmental deal.

Former Union ministers Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had filed a petition seeking review of the December 14, 2018 verdict of the Supreme Court giving clean chit to the Rafale deal.

Besides the trio, AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has also filed a separate review petition in the case.