The Rafale review petitions will now be heard in open court. A three-member bench of judges comprised of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph have passed an order to the effect on Tuesday.
The review petitions filed by former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie alongside noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan on January 2 had urged the apex court to review its earlier ruling of not ordering a probe into the purchase of 36 Rafale jet aircrafts by the India government.
On December 14, the Supreme Court had passed an order by which it stated that no probes were deemed necessary into the purchase of fighter planes from the French company Rafale. The apex court had also stated that it was not required to go into the ‘issue of pricing’ of the jet aircrafts.
Requesting a hearing in open court, the review petitions filed on January 2 alleged that the submissions made by the government were ‘incorrect’. They were handed over to the court in ‘unsigned note given in a sealed envelope’ which compromised the course of ‘natural justice’, the petitions added, along with several other arguments requesting an open hearing.
The Supreme Court has now allowed the hearings to be conducted in an open court.
