Rafale Scam: The Second Coming: Some Further Input

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Sukla Sen

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Nov 10, 2021, 3:45:15 AM11/10/21
to foil-l

Let there be a credible probe, at least now.
To be sure, this is a matter of (a very major) supply to the Indian military - the "defence sector", and thereby has a huge bearing on "national security" - the way the term is usually interpreted and understood.

But, the Loot Maar Raj would resist it tooth and nail - maybe in the name of "national security"!

Of course, the CBI has lost all its credibility; more so, in this particular case via its refusal to act since October 2018 topped up with the government's emphatic denial of any wrongdoing despite definitive evidences to the contrary having been handed over the by the Mauritius government and complete suppression of that very info.

So, no arm of this government is fit to carry out any credible investigation.
Such an investigation would be weaponised only to hunt down the doubting Thomases.

Now, the stormtroopers of the regime are engaged in essentially two things: (I) to divert public attention from the central issue on the table by raising dusts of allegations - the demand for a credible investigation and (ii) overwhelm those who are raising that demand from the very forefront into hushed silence.
The evil regime must not succeed with its crafty design.
It's about time the demand for a credible and effective inquiry rends the air!

I/II.
<<The Congress on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had blocked an investigation into the Rafale deal to protect himself, and dared the government to set up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) now to uncover the truth.

“Why is the government not ordering an investigation if the BJP thinks the Congress is at fault? Are they fools that they are saving the Congress by stonewalling inquiries? Order a JPC now. And make the electoral bonds public; everything will be clear, which party got money from what sources,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a news conference, after the BJP accused the Opposition party of benefiting from Rafale kickbacks when the UPA was in power.

French investigative journal Mediapart had revealed on Monday that the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have since 2018 had evidence that kickbacks were paid by Dassault Aviation to a middleman between 2007 and 2012 to help it secure the Rafale deal, but the agencies did not pursue the matter.

The BJP seized on the revelation of kickbacks being paid when the Congress was in power to accuse the party of corruption, but did not explain the inaction by the central agencies since 2018.

“On October 11, 2018, the Mauritius government handed over documents of payments made in the deal to the CBI. And on October 23, 2018, Modi raided the CBI office in the middle of the night and removed CBI director Alok Verma,” Khera told a news conference on Tuesday. “Modi colluded with the corrupt and hence had to protect the corrupt,” he said.

The Congress has long held that Verma was removed as the CBI chief in the midnight operation to prevent an investigation into the Rafale deal.

Rejecting the BJP’s attempt to accuse the Congress of taking kickbacks, Khera said: “The French news portal has reported that Dassault hired Sushen Gupta in 2000 when the Vajpayee government was in office. Payments were made to him in 2002 and 2004 during the BJP regime as well. Middlemen are regime agnostic, the services continued.”>>


II. <<The BJP government undermined national security, jeopardised the interests of the Indian Air Force and caused loss worth thousands of crores to our exchequer," Khera said at a press confrence.
Each revelation in the "murky affair in the last five years, every single allegation and each piece of the puzzle leads right up to the topmost leadership of the country- the prime minister's doorstep", he said.

Khera alleged that the latest revelations in "operation cover-up" reveal the "dubious nexus" between the Modi government-CBI-ED to bury the corruption in the Rafale deal.

The Congress leader asked whether it is not correct that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered "secret defence ministry documents" from the middlemen in a raid conducted on March 26, 2019.
...
"Why did the ED not pursue these evidences further to investigate the scam? Why did the Modi government then not take action against Dassault, the political executive or the defence ministry officers who leaked the documents? Which 'Chowkidar' sold India's national secrets," Khera asked.
...
The Congress leader also alleged that Prime Minister Modi abrogated the anti-corruption clauses -- "no bribery, no gift, no influence, no commission, no middlemen".

These are a mandatory clauses in defence contracts according to the defence procurement procedure and were part of the tender by the UPA for purchase of 126 fighter aircraft, he said.

"Were the anti-corruption clauses deleted to escape responsibility from bribery and commission to be paid in the Rafale deal? Why was the deletion of anti-corruption clauses approved by the prime minister and the Modi government in September 2016, despite the defence ministry's insistence upon including it in the inter-governmental agreement in July 2015," Khera asked.>>


Also look up: 
I. A.

II. <https://.watch/9b0_vBlhFs/>.


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Sukla Sen <sukl...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 10, 2021, 00:32
Subject: Rafale Scam: The Second Coming
To: foil-l <foi...@insaf.net>, Say NO 2 UID Core Group <core-...@lists.nouid.in>



So, the Union Government agencies are sitting on the evidences and keeping their traps tightly shut since October 2018 and, on top of that, the government even expressly denied any whatever wrongdoing.

In October 2018, the CBI, was provided the relevant evidences by the office of the Attorney General of Mauritius.
Yet, it refused to move its little finger.
And, not only that, the Union Government (led by Modi) would go to stoutly deny any hanky-panky and, with the able help of the all-too-obliging CJI then, just stonewall all (forceful) demands for a probe.

At least, let there be an open probe even now!
The BJP is, now, intensely engaged in just obfuscating in order to divert attention from the central issue on the table - the very legitimate demand for an impartial probe.
That it has fielded its stormtroopers to launch a counterattack only shows that the latest round of revelations have hit where it hurts.

I/II. <<Mediapart is today publishing the alleged false invoices that enabled French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation to pay at least 7.5 million euros in secret commissions to a middleman to help secure the sale of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to India. Yet despite the existence of these documents, the Indian federal police has decided not to pursue the affair and has not begun an investigation. Yann Philippin reports.

It involves offshore companies, dubious contracts and “false” invoices. *Mediapart can reveal that detectives from India's federal police force, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), and colleagues from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which fights money laundering, have had proof since October 2018 that French aviation firm Dassault paid at least 7.5 million euros (equivalent to just under 650 million rupees) in secret commissions to middleman Sushen Gupta* [emphasis added]. This was in the context of the French firm's long and ultimately successful attempt to secure a 7.8 billion-euro-deal in 2016 to sell 36 of its Rafale fighters to India.>>


II. <<On Monday, Mediapart reported that Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of the Rafale fighter aircraft, had paid 7.5 million euros to “intermediary” Sushen Gupta’s Mauritius company Interstellar Technologies between 2007 and 2012.

Publishing “bogus” receipts allegedly raised by firms linked to Gupta, Mediapart claimed that the office of the Attorney General of Mauritius sent them to the CBI on October 11, 2018 — it also shared an image of the letter from the Mauritius AG’s office to the CBI.
...
Seeking Gandhi’s response to the fresh revelation by Mediapart, [BJP spokesperson Sambit] Patra said, “He should respond to this from Italy.” He further alleged that corruption has become “homeless” after the BJP came to power, and its address is now 10 Janpath, referring to the residence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress hit back at the BJP, saying that the government has launched “operation cover up” and demanded to know as to why it had not probed the entire episode so far.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that his party has been seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal, and asked as to why the government has not agreed to this.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that his party has been seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal, and asked as to why the government has not agreed to this.

In April this year, Mediapart claimed that Gupta, chargesheeted by the Enforcement Directorate in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case, had supplied classified documents to Dassault Aviation on the activities of the Indian negotiating team.

In the past, Dassault Aviation and Ministry of Defence have rejected allegations of any corruption in the Rafale contract. In December 2018, the Supreme Court dismissed a bunch of petitions demanding a court-monitored investigation into the deal. It said there was “no occasion to doubt the (decision-making) process” leading to the award of the contract. In November 2019, it rejected review petitions in the matter.>>

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