Rafale deal | Supreme Court allows withdrawal of plea to order probe, cancel purchase
The Hindu
Supreme Court says ‘no case is made out to exercise jurisdiction’
The Supreme Court on Monday allowed advocate M.L. Sharma to withdraw his plea to summon documents from French investigation agency, Agence Francaise Anticorruption (AFA), allegedly showing that aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation paid €1 million to an Indian company in connection with the 2016 Indo-French Rafale deal.
"Having gone through the facts and circumstances, no case is made out to exercise jurisdiction," a Bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and S. Ravindra Bhat concluded in its order.
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The petition had made Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the first respondent, followed by Sushen Mohan Gupta, Defsys Solutions Private Limited, Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited, the Centre, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
During the short hearing Mr. Sharma said his petition was filed in 2021. Time has passed and he would focus solely on urging the court to issue a Letter Rogatory to summon the document allegedly showing the payment of the money.
"The document should be called forth. The matter is serious," Mr. Sharma submitted.
The petition had originally urged the top court to order the registration of an F.I.R. under various offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Official Secrets Act.
“We are judges and therefore, cannot act like Mughals of a bygone era ... the writ courts in the guise of doing justice cannot transcend the barriers of law,” the High Court of Karnataka observed while setting aside an order of a single judge, who in 2016 had extended the lease of a public premises allotted to a physically challenged person to 20 years contrary to 12-year period stipulated in the law.
The High Court of Karnataka on Monday declined to interfere, at present, in the investigation against a Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who is among the accused persons facing charges of circulating obscene clips, related to “morphed” images and videos clips related to Prajwal Revanna, former Hassan MP, in public domain through pen drives and other modes.
The 16th edition of Bhoomi Habba was held on June 8, at the Visthar campus. The festival drew a vibrant crowd who came together to celebrate eco-consciousness through a variety of engaging activities, creative workshops, panel discussions, interactive exhibits and performances, all centered around this year’s theme: “Save Water, Save Lives.”