Supreme Court verdict on Rafale deal

The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.

India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of Indian Air Force equipment. The deal is estimated to be about Rs 58,000 crore (about $8 billion).

The Centre has defended the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets and opposed public disclosure of the pricing details.

After the three petitions were filed, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie alongwith activist advocate Prashant Bhushan had moved the apex court with a plea for a direction to the CBI to register FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also filed a petition against the fighter jet deal.

Advocate M L Sharma was the first petitioner in the case. Later, another lawyer Vineet Dhanda had moved the apex court with the plea for court-monitored probe into the deal.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas on November 14.