NEW DELHI, May 10 - Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Friday sought from the Supreme Court setting aside its earlier verdict that dismissed their petition for criminal investigation into the Rafale fighter jet deal case.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, reserved verdict on a batch of petitions seeking review of its December 14 judgment last year which had dismissed the pleas challenging India�s agreement with France to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, during the two-hour hearing, referred to various aspects, including alleged suppression of material facts from the court and said that an FIR should have been lodged and a criminal investigation launched into the case.
He also referred to the documents relating to alleged parallel negotiations undertaken by the PMO and said that three members of the Indian Negotiation Team had objected to it.
He said that a prima facie cognisable offence has been committed and it warranted registration of the FIR.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, objected to the review petition and said the basic grounds for seeking review of the verdict are the same as they were in the main petition.
The petitioners are seeking review of the judgment on the basis of secret �stolen documents�. Venugopal also referred to the secrecy clause of the inter-governmental agreement between India and France and said that this matter pertains to defence deals and not to the award of contract for construction of flyover or dams. � PTI
