TOPIC – Investigate the dealMore than a year following the arrival of the first batch of 36 Rafael fighter jets from France, the
controversy over L’afaire Rafael refuses to die down, notwithstanding the high quality of the planes and their fit to the requirements of the Indian Air Force, which has been desperate to
augment its fighter squadrons. Media part, a French portal, has now published a set of alleged fake invoices, and claimed that Dassault Aviation paid middleman and defense contractor Sushen Gupta over €7 million in kickbacks between 2007- 2012, when the Congress-led UPA was in power, and has claimed that the CBI had proof of this since October 2018. Earlier investigations, including by The Hindu, had
revealed procedural violations, raised questions over the high price of the fighters, the choice of offset partners, the removal of anti-corruption clauses,
waiving the requirement of a bank guarantee among other issues related to the India-France Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed in 2016. Media part’s articles point to the dubious role of middlemen both in the proposal to buy 126 aircraft that was withdrawn and later in the IGA for flyaway aircraft in 2016. In April 2021, Media part had detailed that the French anti-corruption agency had found that Dassault had accounted for payment of over a million Euros to a company run by Mr. Gupta for the manufacture of 50 models of the Rafael — the company does not specialize in making models — besides paying several million Euros in secret commissions to offshore accounts and shell companies. It had also
alleged that he had supplied classified documents related to the IGA to Dassault Aviation even as talks between Dassault and the Indian negotiating team were deadlocked over the key issue of benchmark pricing. In its price-
redacted audit report on the Rafael deal, the CAG report, tabled in Parliament in February 2019, while examining the earlier bid process between 2007- 12 had pointed out procedural violations in defense procurement — Dassault’s technical bid was rejected and later it was allowed to incorporate India-specific enhancements to meet bid-compliant qualitative requirements. The report also
unequivocally stated that the defense
acquisition process needed reforms and streamlining — points that are buttressed by the new revelations that shed light on the role of defense middlemen in mucking up the procurement process to favor a particular vendor. At the very least, investigative agencies such as the CBI and the ED must
probe Mr. Gupta’s role in the bid process and the IGA. The Government cannot just wish away the questions that are repeatedly emerging about the Rafael deal and must open an investigation into the procurement process. After all, defense preparedness and national security interests
dictate that operational readiness goes hand-in-hand with procedural propriety in defense procurement.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
Controversy (noun) – Public discussion and disagreement about something
Synonyms – Dissension, wrangle, brawl, rhubarb, imbroglio
Antonyms – Forbearance, unanimity, solidarity, rapport, amity
Augment (verb) – To increase the amount, value, size, etc. of something
Synonyms – Aggrandize, exacerbate, ameliorate, burgeon, accentuate
Antonyms – Abridge, minify, deplete, dwindle, slump
Revealed (verb) – To make something known that was secret or unknown before
Synonyms – Divulge, blurt, babble, avow, concede
Antonyms – Repudiate, enshroud, obfuscate, camouflage, stagnate
Waiving (verb) – To say officially that a rule, etc. need not be obeyed
Synonyms – Abdicate, abjure, abnegate, bequeath, spurn
Antonyms – Expedite, embrace, profess, assert, disallow
Alleged (adjective) – Said, without proof, to have taken place or to have a specified illegal or undesirable quality
Synonyms – Ostensible, purported, averred, putative, conjectural
Antonyms –Authentic, sustained, attested, demonstrable, confirmed
Redacted (verb) – Edit (text) for publication
Synonyms – Emended, annotated, revamped, recalibrated, expurgated
Antonyms – Ratify, disperse, indulge, separate, spoil
Unequivocally (adverb) – In a way that leaves no doubt
Synonyms –Indisputably, irrefutably, indeed, forsooth, manifestly
Antonyms –Inadequately, probably, dubiously, partially, indefinite
Acquisition (noun) – The act of obtaining or buying something
Synonyms –Accession, accretion, adjunct, gratuity, perquisite
Antonyms –Depletion, squandering, dispossession, casualty, destitution
Probe (verb) – To ask questions in order to find out secret or hidden information
Synonyms –Inquest, exploration, delving, quest, perusal
Antonyms –Unheed, glance, shun, bypass, evade
Dictate (verb) – To say something aloud so that somebody else can write or type it
Synonyms –Injunction, behest, ukase, promulgation, decretal
Antonyms –Ambiguity, breach, denial, deregulation, hindrance
