CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on February 11, 2019

SHOCKING new revelations about the Rafale scam are appearing in The Hindu newspaper on a regular basis. These show that the anti-corruption clauses were waived as far as the Rafale negotiations are concerned; the PMO was conducting parallel negotiations keeping the official negotiating team in the dark; the PMO refused the suggestion for an escrow account; not only was there no sovereign guarantee by the French government but it now appears that the PMO also batted for no bank guarantee. All this, to facilitate the loot of the Indian exchequer by the prime minister’s crony capitalist friend.

Clearly, the Supreme Court had not been furnished with the full information regarding this deal given by the Modi government. In this background, it may be in order for the Supreme Court to suo moto revisit its earlier ruling.

The CAG, who is supposed to present a report on Rafale deal, suffers from a conflict of interest as he was the finance secretary when this deal was inked. The credibility of a CAG report is hence severely compromised.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that in order to get to the bottom of this mega scam and on that basis bringing the guilty to book it is imperative to conduct a high-level investigation.