New Delhi, March 6: The Supreme Court has adjourned the Rafale deal case hearing to March 14. Earlier today, the apex court began the hearing of the petitions seeking a review of its December 14, 2018, judgment in the Rafale jet purchase matter. The Union government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the documents related to Rafale fighter aircraft deal have been stolen from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which gave a new twist to the case and dominated the hearings. Rafale Deal Documents Stolen From Defence Ministry, 'The Hindu' Story Violates Official Secrets Act: A-G Tells Supreme Court.

A three-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph, began the open court hearing of the Rafale case, during which former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had jointly filed the petition, alleged that the Central government suppressed crucial facts when the apex court decided to dismiss the batch of PIL (public interest litigation) petitions against the Rafale deal in December. Full Text of Rafale Deal Verdict by Supreme Court.

When Prashant Bhushan referred to an article written by The Hindu's N Ram, Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal opposed it and said that the articles were based on stolen documents and an investigation into the matter was on. 'Rafale Deal is India's Biggest Defence Scam' Says Arun Shourie at TMC's United India Rally.

Attorney General KK Venugopal, while arguing, made a number of points before the bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi. Venugopal said that if a CBI investigation is directed now in the case, huge damage will be done to the country.

The Attorney General also told the court that the source of the document should be disclosed to the court by those who published it.

The CJI then quizzed Attorney General Venugopal asking him, "Primary question is that should the court not look into the evidence or the document, if there is relevance or corruption?" To which Venugopal replied saying, "It should not be looked into as it deals with defence and secrets."

CJI Ranjan Gogoi further asked, "An accused is having difficulty in proving his innocence. He steals a document and shows it to judge. The document clearly shows he is innocent. Should the judge not admit the document". AG Venugopal replied that, "He has to disclose the source of the document."

Prashant Bhushan, one of the petitioners in the case, argued that, "Statement by AG that action will be taken against petitioners who are trying to bring the correct facts on record is attempt to intimidate the petitioners and amounts to criminal contempt of court, submits Prashant Bhushan. To this, the Attorney General said, "These documents were never intended to be in public domain." Prashant Bhushan also told the bench that "In Coalgate and 2G scam cases, I brought documents from a whistleblower." After the intense hearing, the Bench said that it will further hear the arguments on March 14 and adjourned the matter.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2019 04:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).