CBI must file FIR in Rafale case, say Bhushan & Shourie

Tribune News Service 
New Delhi, November 15 

Within hours of activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan having claimed that the Supreme Court’s review judgment has “paved the way for further investigation” by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Rafale aircraft deal, senior officials of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) cited paragraphs in the same judgment that rules out registration of FIR.

A senior official cited a paragraph in the judgment of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi which said “no doubt that there was a prayer made for registration of FIR and further investigation but then once we had examined the three aspects on merit we did not consider it appropriate to issue any directions, which automatically covered the direction for registration of FIR prayed for”.

Earlier, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan and former BJP member Arun Shourie cited the concurring judgment of Justice KM Joseph to argue that though the Supreme Court had dismissed their petition, it opened the door for a CBI inquiry into the Rafale deal — something they have been demanding for the past year. 

Bhushan cited three specific paragraphs from Justice Joseph’s minority judgment to argue that, even if it is a minority judgment and the main judgment authored by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi dismissed the review petition, the CBI is now legally bound to investigate the controversial Rafale aircraft deal. 

MoD officials cited another paragraph from the judgment saying “the petitioners invoked Article 32 of the Constitution of India fully conscious of the limitations.... they want an adjudication process which is really different from what is envisaged under the provision invoked”.

On Friday, however, Bhushan cited Justice Joseph’s observations and said, “We hope and expect that the CBI will now move in view of this judgment, which is binding on the CBI.” 

What MOD says

An MoD official cited a paragraph in the judgment which said “no doubt that there was a prayer made for registration of FIR and further investigation but then once we had examined the three aspects on merit we did not consider it appropriate to issue any directions