SC reserves order, says Rafale pricing can be discussed only if details made public

The Supreme Court said pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decides on whether to make it public, and reserved its order on Wednesday on pleas seeking court-monitored probe in the multi-billion deal amidst the government's vehement opposition to the public disclosure.

The observation by apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, came after the government refused to publicly divulge pricing details of the deal, saying it would give advantage to India's enemies.

Hearing a bunch of pleas alleging criminality in Rafale deal and seeking court-monitored probe into it, the apex court asked wide-ranging questions from the government on issues including lack of sovereign guarantee from the French government, selection of Indian offset partner by the Dassault Aviation and need of entering into Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France.

The three-judge bench took note of submissions and counter arguments on pricing of the fighter jets with the petitioners alleging that the government has been giving "bogus arguments" and "hiding behind the secrecy clause".

"The decision we need to take is whether to bring the fact on pricing in public domain or not," said the bench, which also comprised justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph.

Vehemently defending non-disclosure of price publicly, Attorney General K K Venugopal said the cost of a bare Rafale jet as per 2016 exchange rate was Rs 670 crore and the disclosure of price of a "fully loaded" aircraft would give an "advantage to the adversaries".

"If cost of a fully loaded aircraft with weaponry and avionics will be disclosed, our adversaries would be able to know what is the nature of avionics and weapons fitted in it," he said, adding, that India cannot renegade on agreement with France to disclose confidential information about specifics on avionics and weaponry.

Countering petitioners' argument that Parliament has been given pricing twice, Venugopal said, "We have been saying that even Parliament has not been told about the complete cost of the jets."