Veerappa Moily accuses IAF Chief of lying over Rafale, makes U-turn after uproar

Yesterday, veteran leader of the Congress party, Veerappa Moily made a comment on Indian Air Force chief over Rafale deal only to retract it later. After the Supreme Court gave its decision on Rafale fighter jets stating, “There was no substantial evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity,” the Congress party wanted the SC to recall its statement.

The former cabinet minister in the UPA government, Veerappa Moily during a press conference said, “In government records, the defence ministry and IAF chief wanted HAL to be involved. IAF chief at that time visited HAL with Dassault and found it (HAL) competent and declared that they have the expertise. I think IAF chief (Dhanoa) is not fine, he is lying, he is suppressing the truth.

This statement comes a day after IAF Chief BS Dhanoa had said, “I am not going to comment on the judgment but the Supreme Court has given a very fine judgment. It has also said that this plane is badly needed.”

The statement by Veerappa Moily comes as follow up of Congress’ allegation that the Narendra Modi government had favoured Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as Dassault Aviation’s offset partner in place of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL).

The Congress party has also alleged contortion in the purchase of 36 aircraft; the party claims that the government is purchasing them from France at a much higher price than the one that was substantiated by the previous UPA government.

Over Moily’s comment, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said that the remarks from the Congress leader’s in not at all acceptable and it wasn’t just a personal insult to the Air Force chief but to the whole nation. He further asked Moily to issue a public apology regarding his remarks.

Union Minister Prakash Javdekar in a press conference said, “Now today Verrappa Moily like senior party leaders calls name for Air Force chief that shows their desperation is complete and they’re totally shattered by the speed of inquiry which the government is going ahead against the corruption.”

Taking a U-turn on his statement Veerappa Moily then repudiated. He said, “The question is, is he justifying it on the basis of the Supreme Court judgment which is flawed? In the light of this, whether the IAF chief can again certify that this is fine. I am asking him that question. I never called him a liar. If this HAL is fine … Both of them cannot be fine.”

Congress has been on a spree of falsely accusing the central government of irregularities. Rahul Gandhi tweeted a series of lies claiming that there was no sovereign guarantee of Rafale deal from the French government. 

Though, in what can be considered as a huge victory for the Modi government in Rafale Deal case, a three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Gogoi, Justices S K Kaul, and K M Joseph dismissed all the petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into the Rafale deal.

The Supreme Court observed, “We are satisfied that there is no occasion to doubt the process. A country can’t afford to be underprepared. Not correct for the Court to sit as an appellant authority and scrutinize all aspects.”

The CJI also said, “It’s not a case of commercial favoritism as offset doesn’t require to be chosen by the Indian government. The perception of individuals can’t be a subject matter of initiating an inquiry.”

Read more: Modi government gets a clean chit by Supreme court in Rafale case

Now, hopefully, Congress would stop playing their cheap and dirty politics on the issues related to National Security. The SC’s judgment has come as a disappointment to those media houses, journalists, and self-proclaimed defense experts who supported the Congress’ propaganda to portray Rafale deal as a scam.