Prashant Bhushan says, Bofors was only corruption, Rafale compromise with national security

Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan said Saturday that the Rafale fighter jet deal involves both financial corruption and compromise with national security, unlike the Bofors scam.

Addressing a press conference here, Bhushan said, "Not only corruption was committed but national security has also been compromised (with the Rafale deal)...Bofors scandal was an Rs 64-crore commission scam, but there was no issue of compromise with national security. In Rafale scam, there is commission scam of Rs 20,000 crore in which national security has (also) been compromised."

He was asked whether the Rafale issue is comparable to the alleged scam in the purchase of Bofors howitzers during the Rajiv Gandhi government's tenure in the 1980s.

Bhushan, along with former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, has moved the Supreme Court seeking a CBI probe into the Rafale deal.

The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the Centre for pricing details of the 36 Rafale fighter jets India is buying from France in a sealed cover within 10 days in response to PILs.