'Gifts to Clients': Dassault 'paid 1.1 million euros to middleman'

Rafale jet flies Rajpath during the Republic Day parade in Delhi on January 26, 2021. Pic/AFP

The Congress Monday sought a thorough probe in the Rafale defence deal and demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a French media report claimed that €1.1 million was paid to a "middleman" by the aircraft manufacturer. Chief Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told a press conference in Delhi that the French news portal's report has proved that Rahul Gandhi's oft-repeated allegations of corruption in the deal were correct.

Surjewala said as per the French portal's report, a probe conducted by the French Anti-Corruption Agency has revealed that after signing of the deal in 2016, Rafale's manufacturer Dassault allegedly paid €1.1 million to a middleman - Defsys Solutions - an Indian firm. "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," he asked at a press conference. "Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi answer to the nation now?" he asked. He said this amount was shown as expenditure by Dassault as "gifts to clients".

‘Baseless claims'
Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday dismissed as "completely baseless" the allegations of corruption in the Rafale deal, stressing that the Supreme Court had rejected a demand for a probe in the purchase of the fighter aircraft and the CAG also found nothing wrong. He suggested the report in the French media may be due to "corporate rivalry" in France.

2016
Year India and France signed Rafale deal

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