Legal Updates

Recently, in the ongoing high profile CBI case, the Apex court observed that the findings of the Central Vigilance Commission report against CBI Director AlokVerma are mixed , and that he should be given the time to respond. Previously, the top two officials of the CBI, Director Mr. AlokVerma and special director Rakesh Asthana, levelled corruption allegations and filed complaints against each other. Pursuant to this, the Central government ordered that both of them be sent on leave until investigation against them were complete. These orders were challenged by each of them in the Apex Court, which led to the aforesaid case. A public interest litigation was also filed by the NGO Common Cause, which challenged Verma’s removal, and alleged that this was an attempt to interfere with the independence of CBI, since preference was being given to Mr Asthana, who is closer to the Prime Minister.

Recently, the Supreme Court reserved its judgement in the case of the Rafale deal. The case arose out of the petitions that alleged corruption in the Rafale deal and sought a court monitored probe into it. The petitions allege that the entire process of procurement of the Rafale jets began in 2007, and the agreement was to buy 126 aircrafts for Rs. 700 crores each, out of which 108 would be made in India. However, in 2015 after the Prime Minister’s visit to France, a new deal to directly buy 36 aircrafts for Rs. 1600 crores each was made, on the condition that 50% of the value of the contract be given to Indian Companies. The PIL alleges that the Indian government informally conveyed that Reliance be given these offset contracts and thus, the above changes were made to favour Reliance. The Centre argued that this was a sensitive matter that lies in the domain of experts, and should not be decided by judicial review. It also contended that the intergovernmental agreement with France contained a secrecy agreement wherein certain information can only be disclosed with the permission of the French government.