IAF officers assist Supreme Court on Rafale deal case

New Delhi, November 14

Deputy Chief of Air staff, Air Marshal VR Chaudhari and two other officers from Indian Air Force appeared in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to assist it on the issue of the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.

The officers appeared before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that had sought their assistance in the case.

“We are dealing with the requirements of the Air Force and would like to ask an Air Force officer on Rafale jets. We want to hear from an Air Force officer and not the official of the Defence Ministry on the issue,” the bench said when the Attorney General began his arguments on behalf of the Centre in the pre-lunch session on Wednesday.

The bench, also comprising Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph, asked the officials about the latest induction in the Air Force.

They told the bench that Sukhoi 30s is the latest to be inducted which is a 3.5 generation aircraft and added that they did not have 4th or 5th generation aircraft.

The top court then said that “it means there has been no induction of aircraft since 1985”.

The hearing on the pleas seeking probe into the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale deal went under way on Wednesday morning. PTI