Published 14:28 IST, November 14th 2019
Prashant Bhushan: No curative petition to be filed on SC's Rafale review petition
The petitioner in the Rafale review petition and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday said that no curative petition would be filed
In a significant move after Supreme Court, the petitioner in the Rafale review petition and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday said that no curative petition would be filed. He clearly stated that the petitioners will not challenge the Supreme Court verdict. The review petition was filed by Bhushan, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie. Senior advocate Bhushan added that government should go ahead with an inquiry in the issue.
Supreme Court's verdict
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the plea that there was a need for registration of an FIR in connection with the Rafale deal. The five-judge bench comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S K Kaul, and KM Joseph pronounced the contentious judgment. Justice Kaul, pronouncing the judgment said that the Court found "no merit" in the review petition. The Supreme Court further said, "This Court did not think it appropriate to embark on the roving and fishing inquiry."
In May 2019, a three-judge bench had reserved verdict in the petition seeking review of the earlier December 14 judgment on the government-to-government deal to procure 36 Rafale aircraft. During the Rafale hearing, the Supreme Court had looked into three aspects of the deal - the decision-making process, the pricing and the choice of the Indian offset partner. It had found no occasion to doubt the decision-making process and said it didn't find anything wrong in the selection of Indian offset partner by manufacturer Dassault. On the third criterion, it had said it wasn't its job to go into the pricing aspects.
The Supreme Court on Thursday also dismissed the contempt proceeding against Rahul Gandhi which was filed by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi. In the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leader attributed his ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Apex Court. Following this, Lekhi filed a contempt plea against the leader. After the SC issued a contempt notice against Gandhi, the latter tendered an apology seeking closure of the proceedings. The top court has now accepted his apology and said that it is unfortunate that the contemnor made these statements.
Pronouncing the judgement, Justice Kaul said the contemnor should have been more careful. The top court observed that a person holding such an important position should be more careful. The Court also said that no Court should be dragged in any political discourse.
Updated 15:18 IST, November 14th 2019