New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday reserved the verdict on petitions challenging its December 14 judgment in the Rafale fighter jets case. Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan sought from the Supreme Court setting aside its earlier verdict that dismissed their petition for criminal investigation into the Rafale fighter jet deal case.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, during two-hour-long hearing, referred to various aspects including alleged suppression of material facts from the court and said that an FIR should have been lodged and a criminal investigation launched into the case.
He also referred to the documents relating to alleged parallel negotiations being undertaken by the PMO and said that three members of the Indian Negotiation Team had objected to the parallel negotiations.
He said that a prima facie cognisable offence has been committed and it warranted registration of the FIR.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre objected to the review petition and said that the basic grounds for seeking review of the verdict are the same as they were in the main petition.
The petitioners are seeking review of the judgment on the basis of secret "stolen documents".
He also referred to the secrecy clause of the inter-governmental agreement between India and France and said that this matter pertains to defence deals and not to the award of contract for construction of flyover or dams.
Venugopal sought dismissal of the review petitions.
Last month, a bench of the apex court had dismissed the Centre's "preliminary objections", allowing the admissibility of leaked documents as evidence in re-examining the review petitions filed against the SC's judgment.
