Rafale jet deal
Dassault had agreed to pay 1 million Euro to middleman: Mediapart
A middleman was to receive one million euros in the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France, by India, according to a report in Mediapart, a French independent news portal.
The report said that Dassault group, the manufacturer and supplier of Rafale to India had agreed to pay the amount to a middleman, who is ‘now under investigation in India in connection with another defence deal’.
According to an investigation by Mediapart, Agence Francaise Anticorruption (AFA), the French anti-corruption agency discovered ‘this separate arrangement during a routine audit of Dassault’.
“The AFA nonetheless decided not to alert the prosecution authorities over the payment. This is the first part of Mediapart's investigation into a state scandal which also raises questions over the both the justice system and the political authorities,” the report by Yann Philippin said.
The deal was signed on September 23, 2016 by the then Defence Minister of India Manohar Parrikar and French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, in the presence of Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier. The deal is worth 7.8 billion euros.
The deal ran into controversy in India from the time it was signed. Opposition political parties and leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress (INC) questioned the choice of Reliance Defence, a company with no experience of manufacturing aircraft. Gandhi had alleged corruption in the deal, as the earlier price of the aircraft was drastically enhanced by the Narendra Modi government.
Reliance Defence was roped in by the Indian government to meet the ‘offset policy’. The ‘offset’ clause in India’s defence procurement rules states that foreign firms need to invest at least 30 per cent of a deal’s worth, back in India. This was introduced in India’s Procurement Procedure in 2008, to give a boost to India’s manufacturing.
Reacting to the charges by the Congress, Modi government had claimed that India had negotiated the best deal to strengthen its air combat capabilities.
Two years after the signing of the deal, Francois Hollande, who was the President of France at the time of the signing, had stated in an interview that Modi government had put pressure on Dassault to partner with Reliance Defence.
Dr Manmohan Singh’s government had decided in 2001, to buy 126 fighter jets to strength Air Force and tenders were issued for the same in 2007. Major aircraft manufacturers like America’s Boeing, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, Sweden’s Saab and France’s Dassault responded to the tender with their bids.
The then government shortlisted Dassault in 2012, being the lowest bidder. Narendra Modi, who back the Prime Minister in 2014, announced in France during an official visit that India had decided to buy 36 “ready to fly” Rafale jets.
In 2018, Sherpa Association, a French non-governmental organisation (NGO) filed a complaint with the French National Prosecutor’s Office alleging “potential acts of corruption” in the deal.
The NGO, which fights against economic offences, sought clarification on the conditions under which the 36 Rafale jets were being sold to India, as well as the choice of Reliance Defence as a partner.
On November 14, 2019, the Supreme Court rejected all petitions challenging the deal.
The government also rejected the opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the deal.