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Govt rejects Congress demand in LS for JPC into Rafale deal

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Jan 02 2019 | 4:50 PM IST

The government on Wednesday rejected a demand in the Lok Sabha for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the alleged scam in Rafale jet deal.

Hitting back at the Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who alleged a scam in the fighter jet deal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said as the Supreme Court has already satisfied its "conscience" on the issue, there was no need for a JPC.

His speech was disrupted by continuous protests from the Congress Members, some of whom were seen throwing paper planes, drawing the Speaker's admonition.

"Are you still kids", an angry Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said.

Jaitley said perhaps the Congress members were throwing paper planes in the memory of Euro Fighter, which was also in the race along with Rafale.

Jaitley said the Congress felt that since "its hands are already soaked in corruption", it decided to "manufacture" a lie to defame the Modi government which has a clean record.

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"Remember the JPC on Bofors ... it said the kickback were winding up charges ... it whitewashed corruption," Jaitley said.

He also claimed that the JPC is a partisan body which cannot investigate fairly.

He said there was no point in accepting demand for a JPC by a party which is already embroiled in Bofors corruption case.

The Finance Minister noted that the price of 'bare aircraft' has been revealed and that the price of 'weaponised' version cannot be told as it would help India's adversaries.

He also asserted that the bare aircraft was nine per cent cheaper than the one negotiated by the UPA and the weaponised version was 20 per cent cheaper.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, Jaitley said "it is a tragedy that the grand old party which was headed by the legends in the past is now headed by a gentleman who doesn't have basic understanding of combat aircraft."

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First Published: Jan 02 2019 | 4:50 PM IST

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