Matter was crystal clear from the beginning: Rajnath Singh on Rafale deal verdict

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed all petitions pertaining to multi-million dollar Rafale fighter jets deal. Reacting to the verdict home minister Rajnath Singh said that the "matter was crystal clear from the beginning".

"The matter was crystal clear from the beginning and we have been saying that the allegations levelled by Congress were baseless and to gain political mileage," Rajnath Singh said while speaking to the media.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph said that detailed scrutiny of the Rafale fighter jet deal was not required.

"There is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the Rafale deal," the court said while delivering the verdict.

Last month, the Centre had submitted the pricing details of the 36 Rafale fighter jets to the top court.

The Centre in its submission had said that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval was secured before the deal was inked with France. The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.

India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of the Indian Air Force equipment. The estimated cost of the deal is Rs 58,000 crore.

The petitions seeking the probe in the Rafale deal were first filed by advocates Manohar Lal Sharma and Vineet Dhanda. Later, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had also filed a petition.

Former union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had also filed a joint petition in the apex court.