This middleman is accused of money-laundering in India in another defense deal, the portal says in the report.\u00a0 This corrupt deal was originally found out by the inspectors of the French Anti-Corruption Agency, Agence Fran\u00e7aise Anticorruption (AFA), during their scheduled audit of Dassault.<\/p>\n
Congress General Secretary, Randeep Surjewala in a press release said that the French news agency, Mediapart.fr shared news founded on the investigation of the French Anti-Corruption Agency revealing that a middleman was involved, they had payments of commissions, and red flags were raised by the French anti-corruption agency.<\/p>\n
Mr. Surjewala raised pertinent questions in his press conference and asked:<\/p>\n
How can middlemen and commission be paid in a government-to-government contract or in any defense procurement in India in violation of the mandatory procurement procedures?<\/p>\n
\u201cHas it not now vitiated the entire Rafale deal entailing imposition of heavy financial penalties on Dassault, banning of the company, registration of an FIR, and other penal consequences as envisaged in the defense procurement and India\u2019s stated policy?<\/p>\n
Does it not require a full and independent investigation in India\u2019s biggest defense deal as to home much bribery or commission paid, and paid to whom in the Indian government?<\/p>\n
Will the Prime Minister now answer to the nation? \u201c<\/p>\n
To recapitulate the past events, on 10 April 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a> announced the purchase of 36 Rafale ships (fighter jets) \u00a0worth Rs 60 thousand crores inside France, Paris.<\/p>\n The Prime Minister\u2019s \u201cMake in India\u201d chant mysteriously vanished and the original deal that Congress had made with France of 126 crafts were reduced to 36 by PM Modi.\u00a0 An \u201cinexperienced company\u201d\u00a0 replaced India\u2019s aerospace giant, HAL.<\/p>\n It is said by Congress that there was no tender, purchase process, and defense procurement processor.\u00a0 It was done without any open transparency and the Prime Minister just went ahead and announced the biggest defense deal and the then defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not have a clue of what was happening.<\/p>\n The late Manohar Parrikar had resigned as defense minister during that time and NCP chief Sharad Pawar said, “The Rafale deal was not acceptable to Manohar Parrikar. He, therefore, resigned from the post of Defence minister and returned to Goa.\u201d\u00a0 It was definitely a shady deal shrouded in mystery.<\/p>\n Right from the time of the deal, Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi had been calling it a massive scam, but no one seemed to pay heed, at least the media ignored it, and in 2018, the Supreme Court gave it a clean chit rejecting all the petitions related to Rafale jet deals and stated there were no irregularities.<\/p>\n The news agency said, \u201cSale of French Rafale jet fighters to India: how a state scandal was buried.\u201d<\/p>\n Antton Rouget, a French journalist said, “Officially, everything was clean and the Indian Rafale deal ‘affair’ was nothing but a mirage.\u00a0 Yet in reality, there is a scandal, as @Mediapart \u00a0can today reveal with the publication of the \u201cRafale Papers\u201d, a 3-part investigation into the affair based on numerous documents.\u201d<\/p>\n Officially, everything was clean and the Indian Rafale deal 'affair' was nothing but a mirage.<\/p>\n Yet in reality there is a scandal, as @Mediapart<\/a> can today reveal with the publication of the \u201cRafale Papers\u201d, a 3-part investigation into the affair based on numerous documents. pic.twitter.com\/af4u4qzhrn<\/a><\/p>\n — Antton Rouget (@AnttonRouget) April 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n