The Hans
India: National: Thursday, January 17, 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.