Rafale Papers: France opens judicial probe into fighter deal with India, new revelations emerge // Opposition Parties Say it's Time for Investigation in India Too

By Dilip -

A French judge has been appointed to lead a judicial investigation into suspected “corruption” and “favouritism” over the 7.8-billion-euro sale to India of 36 Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter aircraft, Mediapart can reveal. The highly sensitive probe into the inter-governmental deal signed off in in 2016 was formally opened on June 14th. It was following Mediapart’s “Rafale Papers” series of investigations into the secret dealings behind the contract, published in April, that French anti-corruption NGO Sherpa filed a complaint with the tribunal of Paris, citing “corruption”, “influence peddling”, “money laundering”, “favouritism” and undue tax waivering surrounding the deal.

The financial crimes branch of the French public prosecution services, the PNF, confirmed to Mediapart on Friday that the newly opened investigation is focussed on all of the alleged crimes.   As Mediapart has previously reported, in 2019 the former head of the PNF, Eliane Houlette, dismissed an initial complaint filed by Sherpa, against the advice of one of her staff and without carrying out any investigations, justifying her decision as “to preserve the interests of France”. Now, two years later, her successor as head of the PNF, Jean-François Bohnert, has decided to support the opening of a probe, after the complaint was updated with details from Mediapart’s recent series of investigations….

https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/020721/rafale-papers-france-opens-judicial-probe-fighter-deal-india-new-revelations-emerge

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Cutlet for Cutlet

Opposition Parties Say it's Time for Investigation in India Too

Over the last two months, the French website Mediapart (pronounced may-thee-aa-paar) has exposed a number of possible financial crimes in the Rafale deal, following which a fresh judicial investigation was ordered in France. Among the first to respond was Prashant Bhushan, the eminent lawyer who had also moved the Supreme Court of India to demand a probe into the purchase of the aircraft. However, the apex court, then under Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had dismissed a clutch of such petitions, rejecting the contention that there were grounds to file a FIR in the matter.

Speaking to The Wire, Bhushan said, “The Mediapart story further corroborates the whole string of evidence which we had placed before the Supreme Court seeking an independent investigation into the deal. Unfortunately, the bench led by CJI Gogoi preferred to blindly accept what the government told them in a sealed cover note which was later found to contain much false information, including about a non-existent CAG report. Thereafter, Justice Gogoi was given a Rajya Sabha seat immediately after retirement.”…

https://thewire.in/politics/france-rafale-judicial-probe-opposition-parties

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