Supreme Court agrees to hear Rafale review petitions in open Court

The Supreme Court Tuesday agreed to hear in open court the petitions seeking review of its December verdict that had dismissed pleas challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, in its chamber hearing, allowed the prayer of former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie as also activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan that the review pleas be heard in open court.

"The prayer for open Court hearing is allowed", the bench said. On December 14, 2018, the apex court had dismissed various pleas challenging the deal for procurement of 36 Rafale jets by India from France saying that there was no occasion to "really doubt the decision making process" warranting setting aside of the contract.

It had rejected the pleas seeking lodging of an FIR and the court-monitored probe alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement.