The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the government's objection over documents used by petitioners to seek review of Rafale judgement. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the documents are admissible.

"We deem it proper to dismiss preliminary objections and hold and affirm the review petitions will be adjudicated on the basis of relevance of the three documents whose admissibility was questioned by the government," the bench said.

On March 14, the apex court had reserved verdict on the preliminary objections raised by the Centre on admissibility of privileged documents annexed by former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie as also activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan in their review petition against the top court's December 14 judgement that dismissed all petitions against the Rafale jet deal.

The Centre had opposed admissibility of the three documents obtained and published by a leading newspaper in its report claiming these documents were stolen from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and violated the Official Secrets Act (OSA), where government - due to national security issue - had kept such crucial information hidden from public domain.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, had contended that no one can produce the documents in the court without the permission of the department concerned as these are protected under the OSA and their disclosure is exempted under the Right to Information Act as per Section 8(1)(a).

The Centre had also claimed privilege over documents pertaining to the Rafale fighter jet deal with France and said they cannot be considered in evidence as per Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act.

The court had then question as to how important secret documents were stolen from the defence ministry and told the MoD to get its house in order.

Bhushan had, however, contended that the Centre's objections were "mala fide and totally untenable arguments".

Bhushan had said that government cannot claim privilege over the documents which are already published and are in public domain. He further said that Section 123 Indian Evidence Act only protected "unpublished documents".

While the Centre was making submission that the documents can be withheld from disclosure under the RTI Act in view of the national security, the top court said Section 22 of the RTI Act gave it an overriding effect over the OSA.

(With inputs from agencies)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the government's objection over documents used by petitioners to seek review of Rafale judgement. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the documents are admissible.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the government's objection over documents used by petitioners to seek review of Rafale judgement. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that the documents are admissible. "We deem it proper to dismiss preliminary objections and hold and affirm the review petitions will be adjudicated on the basis of relevance of the three documents whose admissibility was questioned by the government," the bench said. On March 14, the apex court had reserved verdict on the preliminary objections raised by the Centre on admissibility of privileged documents annexed by former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie as also activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan in their review petition against the top court's December 14 judgement that dismissed all petitions against the Rafale jet deal. The Centre had opposed admissibility of the three documents obtained and published by a leading newspaper in its report claiming these documents were stolen from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and violated the Official Secrets Act (OSA), where government - due to national security issue - had kept such crucial information hidden from public domain. Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, had contended that no one can produce the documents in the court without the permission of the department concerned as these are protected under the OSA and their disclosure is exempted under the Right to Information Act as per Section 8(1)(a). The Centre had also claimed privilege over documents pertaining to the Rafale fighter jet deal with France and said they cannot be considered in evidence as per Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act. The court had then question as to how important secret documents were stolen from the defence ministry and told the MoD to get its house in order. Bhushan had, however, contended that the Centre's objections were "mala fide and totally untenable arguments". Bhushan had said that government cannot claim privilege over the documents which are already published and are in public domain. He further said that Section 123 Indian Evidence Act only protected "unpublished documents". While the Centre was making submission that the documents can be withheld from disclosure under the RTI Act in view of the national security, the top court said Section 22 of the RTI Act gave it an overriding effect over the OSA. (With inputs from agencies)

Rafale documents admissible, says Supreme Court dismissing Centre's objection

A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Rafale pricing never reached Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Centre on Saturday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking ''correction'' in a paragraph in its judgement on Rafale fighter jet deal in which a reference has been made about the CAG&nbsp;report and PAC, reported news agency PTI.

A law officer said that the application has been filed to convey to the court that there has been some misinterpretation on the issue of the documents placed in a sealed cover relating to the CAG and PAC, the report added.

In the judgement on Friday, the apex court had noted that the pricing details have been shared with CAG, and the report of the CAG has been examined by the PAC.

The issue of CAG and PAC was mentioned in para 25 of the judgement of the top court which had held that there were no irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France.

The judgement had said that the material placed before it shows that the Centre did not disclose in Parliament the pricing details of the Rafale fighter jet, but revealed it to the Comptroller and Auditor General.&nbsp;

After the SC verdict on Friday, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who chairs the PAC, had said no such report had come to him.&nbsp;

Swaraj Abhiyan's founder member and one of the petitioners in the case Prashant Bhushan too&nbsp;expressed shock that the judgement on the deal between India and France was based on "false information" about CAG report.

The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making the process" warranting setting aside of the contract.

The court rejected the pleas which sought lodging of an FIR and a court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA).&nbsp;

A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Rafale pricing never reached Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Centre on Saturday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking ''correction'' in a paragraph in its judgement on Rafale fighter jet deal in which a reference has been made about the CAG report and PAC, reported news agency PTI.

A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Rafale pricing never reached Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Centre on Saturday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking ''correction'' in a paragraph in its judgement on Rafale fighter jet deal in which a reference has been made about the CAG report and PAC, reported news agency PTI. A law officer said that the application has been filed to convey to the court that there has been some misinterpretation on the issue of the documents placed in a sealed cover relating to the CAG and PAC, the report added. In the judgement on Friday, the apex court had noted that the pricing details have been shared with CAG, and the report of the CAG has been examined by the PAC. The issue of CAG and PAC was mentioned in para 25 of the judgement of the top court which had held that there were no irregularities in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France. The judgement had said that the material placed before it shows that the Centre did not disclose in Parliament the pricing details of the Rafale fighter jet, but revealed it to the Comptroller and Auditor General. After the SC verdict on Friday, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who chairs the PAC, had said no such report had come to him. Swaraj Abhiyan's founder member and one of the petitioners in the case Prashant Bhushan too expressed shock that the judgement on the deal between India and France was based on "false information" about CAG report. The Supreme Court Friday dismissed the pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale jets saying there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making the process" warranting setting aside of the contract. The court rejected the pleas which sought lodging of an FIR and a court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA).

Government moves SC seeking 'correction' in Rafale judgement

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Rafale documents admissible, says Supreme Court dismissing Centre's objection

Government moves SC seeking 'correction' in Rafale judgement