Karma is a ledger account of a person's actions, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday responded to the latest investigative report by a French portal that claimed that €1.1 million were paid to a middleman in the 2016 Rafale fighter aircraft deal.
Mr. Gandhi's response comes a day after his party demanded a fresh investigation into the Rafale deal.
“Karma = The ledger of one's actions. Nobody escapes it,” he tweeted with the hashtag #Rafale.
The French portal — Mediapart — had reported that France’s anti-corruption agency, Agence Française Anticorruption (AFA), found aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation had paid €one million to an Indian company in the € 7.87 billion Rafale deal between India and France.
“That middleman is now accused of money laundering in India in another defence deal. The company said the money was used to pay for the manufacture of 50 large replica models of Rafale jets, even though the inspectors were given no proof that these models were made. Yet against all apparent logic, the AFA decided not to refer the matter to prosecutors,” according to an investigation by Mediapart.
Dassault had provided AFA with a “proforma invoice” dated March 30, 2017 supplied by an Indian company called Defsys Solutions which according to the AFA investigation report was related to 50% of the total order (€1,017,850), for the manufacture of 50 models of the Rafale C, with a price per unit of €20,357.
However, the report claimed, Dassault was unable to provide the AFA with a “single document showing that these models existed and were delivered, and not even a photograph” when AFA inspectors subsequently found these details in mid-October 2018 and asked the company for an explanation.
“Does it now not require a full and independent investigation into India's biggest defence deal to find out as to how much bribery and commission in reality, if any, was paid and to whom in the Indian government? Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi answer to the nation now,” asked Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala.
“How can middleman and payment of commission be permitted in a government-to-government defence contract or in any defence procurement in India in violation of the mandatory Defence Procurement Procedure,” he added.
