News Analysis India

Tag: Mediapart

  • ‘Rafale kickback happened during Congress regime’: BJP retorts as row erupts over new report

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: A political slugfest has been reignited in India after French portal Mediapart’s report on alleged kickbacks paid between 2007 and 2012 to a middleman involved in the Rafale deal, and on the CBI allegedly failing to probe these charges despite having the relevant documents.

    The Congress accused the Modi government of conducting an operation to “cover-up” corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal and asked why it did not initiate an investigation into the role of a middleman despite recovering incriminating documents from him.

    Party spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged that the BJP government has sacrificed national security, jeopardised the interests of the Indian Air Force and caused loss worth thousands of crores of rupees to the state exchequer.

    French investigative journal Mediapart in fresh revelations in a report has exposed how middleman Sushen Gupta got hold of confidential documents belonging to the Indian Negotiating Team (INT) in 2015 from the ministry of defence, he said.

    The documents detailed the stance of Indian negotiators during the final lap of negotiation and in particular how they calculated the price of the aircraft. This gave a clear advantage to Dassault Aviation (Rafale), Khera claimed, citing the Mediapart report.

    Meanwhile, the national spokesperson of the BJP Sambit Patra slammed the Congress, which was in power between 2007 and 2012, for corruption in the Rafale deal and termed INC (Indian National Congress) as “I need commission”.

    Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters, Patra said, “We all saw the way the opposition parties, especially the Congress party, tried to create a false atmosphere regarding Rafale before the 2019 elections. They felt that this would give him some political advantage.”

    “Today, we are going to put some important documents in front of you, so that it gives a clear picture on whose era the corruption happened. A French media organization some time ago revealed that there was corruption in Rafale. This whole matter happened between 2007 to 2012,” he added.

    Slamming the Congress party, Patra said, “Indian National Congress, in my opinion, should be renamed ‘I need commission’.”

    “We had seen kind of canards spread by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress before 2019 elections. Congress had done press conferences against PM Narendra Modi and BJP about allegations of corruption. Rafale was a story of commission. The article published in France media talks about Dassault aviation and 7.5 million euros, 65 crores rupees commission was paid by it. A middle man was paid this amount. At least, 7.5 million euros were paid, as per the article. This article states that a maximum of 11 million euros was paid as commission to SM Gupta. His name surfaced in the AugustaWestland case. This is not just a coincidence. There is a conspiracy. Rest, I believe is a matter of investigation,” he said.

    Patra further said that Rahul Gandhi is perhaps in Italy currently and should reply from there on how this corruption was done during the UPA tenure.

    “The Indian Air force required these aircraft and this deal was kept pending for 10 years. There was no conclusion of negotiations,” he said.

    “The article mentioned three words like corruption, influence peddling and favouritism. Congress is double-faced,” the BJP spokesperson said. 

  • SC to hear fresh plea on alleged corruption charges over Rafale jets deal

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a fresh plea over the alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal following fresh charges of the payment of 1.1 million Euros by aviation major Dassault to an Indian middleman. 

    The plea by advocate M L Sharma sought an independent probe and the matter will be heard by the apex court after two weeks.

    The petitioner said the agreement to procure 36 Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation was an outcome of corruption and was in violation of Articles 13 (laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights), 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) and 253 (legislation for giving effect to international agreements) of the Constitution.

    Citing an investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agency French news agency Mediapart, reported that Dassault Aviation had paid about 1 million Euros to an Indian company called Defsys Solutions for 50 models of the aircraft which were to be given as gifts.

    Defsys, one of the subcontractors of Dassault in India, denied the allegations that they were totally unfounded.

    Sushen Gupta, who runs Defsys Solutions, is being investigated in the Agusta-Westland helicopter scam. He was earlier arrested and granted bail in the case.

    “Due to political pressure, prosecution upon AFA’s (Agence Française Anticorruption) report has been suspended/stayed. It is a serious offence under [Official] Secrets Act, 1923, injuries financial and defence to the country. It has violated Articles 21 and 13 of the Constitution of India,” the petition stated. 

  • ‘No violations reported’: Dassault rejects fresh allegations of corruption in Rafale deal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: French aerospace major Dassault Aviation on Thursday rejected fresh allegations of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal with India, saying no violations were reported in the frame of the contract, days after French online journal ‘Mediapart’ alleged that the jet manufacturer had paid nearly one million Euros to an Indian middleman.

    According to the French media, the report was based on an investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agency Agence Francaise Anticorruption (AFA).

    Rejecting the allegations, a Dassault Aviation spokesperson said,”numerous controls are carried out by official organisations, including the French Anti-Corruption Agency. No violations were reported, notably in the frame of the contract with India for the acquisition of 36 Rafales.”

    The spokesperson said Dassault Aviation, since the early 2000s, has “implemented strict internal procedures to prevent corruption, guaranteeing the integrity, ethics and reputation of the company in its industrial and commercial relations”.

    The French media report said that Dassault claimed the money was paid for 50 replicas of Rafale jets and the order was given to an Indian defence company.

    It also mentioned that the inspectors of the AFA were given no proof that these models were made.

    Following the allegations, the Indian company on Tuesday released a statement and tax invoices stating that the allegations were totally unfounded.

    The Dassault official said the company reiterated that it acts in strict compliance with the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) anti-bribery convention and national laws, in particular the Sapin 2 law.

    Under the Sapin 2 law that came into force in 2017, French companies are required to implement a specific internal compliance programme to fight corruption.

    “In the context of the Sapin 2 law, the company has completed and strengthened its system for the prevention and detection of corruption and influence peddling, both at the level of the parent company and its subsidiaries,” the official said.

    The company also noted that the Rafale deal was based on a government-to-government framework.

    “This contract, as well as the offsets corresponding contract, meet the criteria established by these regulations and are being executed in full transparency between the various government and industrial partners,” the spokesperson added.

    The company has delivered 14 Rafale jets to the Indian Air Force so far.

    The official said aircraft were delivered in respect of the schedule, despite the COVID-19 health crisis.

    “Dassault Aviation and the Reliance Group established the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd (DRAL) joint venture in 2017 and built a plant in Nagpur that has been producing numerous Falcon parts and pieces since 2018,” the official said.

    “Dassault Aviation and its partners are working with 60 companies in India and negotiations are underway to establish potential new cooperations,” the official noted.

    The NDA government had inked a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

    Prior to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the Congress raised several questions about the deal, including on rates of the aircraft, and alleged corruption but the government rejected all the charges.

  • Indian firm rejects allegations over supply of Rafale replica to Dassault Aviation

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: An Indian firm on Tuesday said it supplied 50 replicas of Rafale aircraft to its maker Dassault Aviation, a day after a fresh controversy erupted over the fighter jets’ deal following a French media report.

    French publication ‘Mediapart’, citing an investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agency, reported that Dassault Aviation had paid about one million Euros to Defsys Solutions for 50 models of the aircraft which were to be given as “gifts”.

    The media report said the inspectors of the Agence Française Anticorruption (AFA) were given no proof that these models were made.

    Defsys Solutions on Tuesday released a statement and tax invoices stating that the allegations were totally unfounded.

    “This is in response to wholly unsubstantiated, baseless and misleading claims appearing in certain sections of the media, insinuating that Defsys never supplied 50 replica models of Rafale aircraft,” the company said in a statement.

    It said 50 replica models of Rafale aircraft were delivered to Dassault Aviation based on a purchase order received from the defence major.

    “Delivery challans, E-way bills and GST returns related to such delivery have been duly filed with the relevant authorities,” the company said.

    In its report, Mediapart said: “Dassault group was unable to provide the AFA with a single document showing that these models existed and were delivered, and not even a photograph. The inspectors thus suspected that this was a bogus purchase designed to hide hidden financial transactions”.

    The NDA government had signed a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 to procure 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation after a nearly seven-year exercise to procure 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force did not fructify during the UPA regime.

    Prior to the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the Congress raised several questions about the deal, including on rates of the aircraft, and alleged corruption but the government rejected all the charges.