Editorial: A clean chit


The Supreme Court giving clean chit to Narendra Modi government in the Rafale fighter jets deal case saying review petitions were without merit has finally ended much noise over the issue. The court rejected pleas which had sought re-examination of the 14 December, 2018 verdict which said there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets. The apex court rejected the contention that there was need for registration of FIR in connection with the deal.

Meanwhile, the apex court also closed the contempt plea against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongly attributing to the SC his “chowkidar chor hai” remark in the Rafale case against Modi. The court said the remarks made by Rahul Gandhi were far from truth and he should have refrained from those and could have been careful.

The BJP reacted with jubilation to the Supreme Court’s decision to reject review petitions for probing the Rafale deal, saying truth has triumphed and that it is a huge victory for the Modi government. “Truth triumphs. Truth can be bothered but not defeated. SC rejects review petitions on Rafale deal & raps Rahul Gandhi & asks him to be careful in future. Huge victory for Narendra Modi-led government,” tweeted BJP leaders. A lot was spoken about the Rafale deal as it was the topic of debate in 2019 Parliament elections. A victory for BJP indeed.