Financial
Express: National: Wednesday, January 16, 2019.
The
Comptroller and Auditor General has refused to disclose details about its audit
in the controversial Rafale aircraft deal, saying the process is not yet
complete and any disclosure at this stage will amount to breach of the
Parliament’s privilege, an RTI reply said. In its response to Pune-based
activist Vihar Durve who had sought the report from CAG, the country’s auditor
said, “The audit is under progress and the report is yet to be finalised. The
information cannot be given under Section 8(1)(C) of the RTI Act as the
disclosure would cause breach of Parliament”.
Section
8(1)(C) of the Right To Information (RTI) Act exempts information the
disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the
State Legislature. Last month, the Supreme Court had dismissed pleas
challenging the deal between India and France for procurement of 36 Rafale
jets, saying there was no occasion to “really doubt the decision making
process” warranting setting aside of the contract.
It
rejected the pleas seeking lodging of an FIR and a court-monitored probe
alleging irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal, in which both the
countries have entered into an inter-governmental agreement (IGA). “The pricing
details have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG), and the report of the CAG has been examined by the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC). Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before the Parliament
and is in public domain,” the bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi
had said, relying on the sealed note submitted by the government.
After
the Congress raised the issue that no such CAG report had been placed before
the PAC, the government approached the court seeking changes in the judgment.
In the application, the Centre said the two sentences in paragraph 25 of the
judgement appeared to have been based on the note submitted by it along with
the pricing details in a sealed cover, but indicated the words used by the
court lent a different meaning.
The
Centre made it clear that it did not say that the CAG report was examined by
PAC or a redacted portion was placed before Parliament. It clarified that the
note had said the government “has already shared” the price details with the
CAG, which was written in past tense and “is factually correct”.
However,
where it was stated by the Centre in the note that the report of the CAG “is”
examined by the PAC, was a description of the procedure which is followed in
the normal course, but in the judgement, ‘is’ was replaced with the words ‘has
been’, according to the application.
In
its response to the RTI application filed by Durve, the CAG also refused to
share its correspondence related to the audit of Rafale deal with any
government department or political party, claiming that such records were
“confidential and held in fiduciary capacity” hence, exempted from disclosure
under the RTI Act. The CAG added that audit in the Indian Air Force is done by
designated principal audit officer of the force and the reports are submitted
to the national auditor for approval.