BackRafale case: Will first decide preliminary objection raised by Centre, says SC
We will go into the facts of the case only after we decide the preliminary objection raised by the Centre: Supreme CourtNo one can produce documents pertaining to the Rafale deal in court without the permission of the department concerned: Govt
PremiumNew Delhi: The Supreme Court made it clear on Thursday that it will decide first on the preliminary objections raised by the Centre and then go into the facts of the Rafale fighter jet deal case.
A bench headed by chief justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the petitioners seeking review of its order to focus on the preliminary objections regarding admissibility of the leaked documents.
"Only after we decide the preliminary objection raised by the Centre, we will go into the facts of the case," said the bench, also comprising justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph.
At the outset, attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, claimed privilege over documents pertaining to the Rafale fighter jet deal with France and told the Supreme Court that no one can produce them in the court without the permission of the department concerned.
Venugopal referred to section 123 of the Evidence Act and provisions of the RTI Act to buttress his claim.
He told the top court that no one can publish documents relating to national security as the security of the State supercedes everything.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, one of the petitioners seeking review, opposed the submission and said the Rafale deal documents, which the attorney-general says are privileged, have been published and are already in public domain.
Bhushan said according to the provisions of the RTI Act, public interest outweighs other things and no privilege can be claimed except for documents pertaining to intelligence agencies.
There was no government-to-government contract in purchasing the Rafale jets since there was no sovereign guarantee extended to India by France in the ₹58,000 crore deal, Bhushan said. The Press Council of India Act provided provisions for protecting sources of journalists, he added.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed
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