New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded prosecution of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the Rafale deal, a demand which came a day after the Centre told the Supreme Court that files related to the purchase of the fighter jets were stolen.
Coming down heavily on the Modi dispensation, Rahul said there is a clear cut case of investigating the Prime Minister as the trail of corruption “begins and ends with him.” He was addressing the media here.
He alleged that the objective of this government is to make things disappear, referring to the Centre’s sensational disclosure before the SC on Wednesday. He said even the former CBI director Alok Verma was removed from his post in the middle of the night. Reports had suggested that Verma was set to begin investigations into the controversial deal.
“There is now enough evidence to prosecute the PM in the Rafale Scam. The trail of corruption begins & ends with him. That crucial Rafale files incriminating him are now reported “stolen” by the Govt, is destruction of evidence & an obvious coverup,” he also tweeted.
There is now enough evidence to prosecute the PM in the #RafaleScam.
The trail of corruption begins & ends with him.
That crucial Rafale files incriminating him are now reported “stolen” by the Govt, is destruction of evidence & an obvious coverup. #FIRagainstCorruptModi
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 6, 2019
The petitioners who had sought review of the Supreme Court order absolving the Modi government of any wrongdoings in the case had presented their case based on newspaper reports on Wednesday, which had held the government complicit. The articles, the Attorney General K K Venugopal said, were based on the notings in the files which were stolen and hence are not admissible in court.
Talking to media, Rahul said by accepting the fact that the files were stolen, the government has acknowledged they were authentic and proof of irregularities committed.
“The Prime Minister performed a bypass surgery in the deal and got the deal delayed to help Anil Ambani derive benefit out of it. If the Prime Minister is not guilty, then why is he himself not getting an investigation done?” he said.
According to a Hindu article last month, the PMO was conducting a parallel investigation with the French side for the purchase of the fighter jets. This was objected to by the negotiating team.
