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Supreme Court on Rafale

The Supreme Court’s limited judicial review of the Rafale deal is unlikely to end the politicking.

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The Supreme Court’s limited judicial review of the Rafale deal is unlikely to end the politicking. But it will come as a relief for defence policy planners who were anticipating a Bofors-type freeze in decision making in the event of an adverse judgment. The Supreme Court’s dismissal of four petitions seeking a judiciary-monitored probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale jet fighters has given the Modi government much to cheer after the loss of the three Hindi heartland states. A court stricture on the Rafale deal would have left the government even more vulnerable. But it also left a window open for the Congress to attempt more political mileage when the judges noted that they would not make an in-depth examination of policy decisions of the executive, especially on matters concerning national security and defence. The judges also did not scrutinise the comparative merits of the deal and excluded from the judgment the question about the soundness of the decision.

The court found that (i) ‘broadly’ the process had been followed and that (ii) there is no substantial material on record to show that there was favouritism in the choice of Indian offset partner. The Congress has latched on the third substantial observation — ‘it is certainly not the job of the court to carry out a comparison of the pricing details in matters like the present’ — to refuse to back away from the scrimmage. It maintains that it did not approach the Supreme Court precisely because the apex court is not the forum to discuss defence contracts..

While a political slugfest will ensue between BJP’s willingness for a debate in Parliament and the Congress’ insistence for a Joint Parliamentary Committee, there is mixed news for the defence establishment. The apex court has ensured that there will be repeat of the Bofors saga when the atmosphere of fear had slowed down decision making, leading to a decade of no modernisation. But the deal also shows that India’s import dependence continues unchecked. From the public policy perspective, foreign weapon imports neither make for good economics nor for good politics.

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