Rafale Deal Documents Not Stolen From Defence Ministry: AG Venugopal Takes U-Turn
Changing his stand, AG Venugopal said that “the statement that files have been stolen is wholly incorrect”.
New Delhi, March 8: Attorney General K K Venugopal on Friday took a U-turn on his statement in the Supreme Court that documents related to the Rafale deal were stolen from the Ministry of Defence. Changing his stand, AG Venugopal said that “the statement that files have been stolen is wholly incorrect”. He said that what he meant in his submission before the Supreme Court was that petitioners in the application used "photocopies of the original" papers, deemed secret by the government.
"I am told that the opposition has alleged what was argued (in SC) was that files had been stolen from the Defence Ministry. This is wholly incorrect. The statement that files have been stolen is wholly incorrect," the Attorney General told news agency PTI, in an apparent damage-control exercise. He said the review petition into Rafale probe verdict filed by Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan had annexed three documents which were photocopies of the original. Rafale Deal Controversy: Congress Reiterates 'Chowkidar Chor Hai' Chant After 'The Hindu' Report Shows NDA Struck Costlier Deal.
A political row erupted after AG Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the Rafale deal documents were stolen from the government and those publishing them were guilty under the Official Secrets Act. He was referring to documents pertaining to the purchase of Rafale fighter jets based on which articles were published in The Hindu. He also warned the newspaper with a case under the Official Secrets Act for publishing articles based on these documents. Rafale Row: Arun Jaitley Slams Rahul, Says 'dynast' Can't Be Above SC or CAG.
Reacting to the Attorney General's warning, N Ram, Chairman of The Hindu Group of Publications, said the documents that they accessed were not stolen and the sources which provided them will not be revealed.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 08, 2019 09:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).