Citing an email written by an Airbus executive to a French government official, Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of leaking  official secrets to businessman Anil Ambani.

He said Anil Ambani met French Defence Minister and conveyed him about the Rafale deal prior to the Prime Minister’s meeting to ink the deal. He added that even the Defence Secretary and the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar were unaware of the content of the deal.

Allegation denied

Denying this, a Reliance Defence spokesperson said the purported email being referred by the Congress is regarding the discussion between Airbus and Reliance Defence regarding civil and defence helicopter programmes under ‘Make in India’.

“Defence Minister Parrikar after signing the deal had said he did not know about this new deal. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was negotiating with Rafale, but was unaware that they have been kicked out of the negotiation,” Rahul Gandhi told reporters on Tuesday.

He said the new development reveals that the deal was a breach of ‘Official Secrets Act’ (OSA).

“The Prime Minister, who is the only other person who knows about this deal, has informed Anil Ambani, and the latter is telling the French that he is going to get a deal which he gets. He opens the company after this conversation. So, there is no other clear way of putting this. Anil Ambani has put it beautifully. He mentioned the MoU in preparation and the intention to sign it during the Prime Minister’s visit. The Prime Minister is acting as Anil Ambani’s middleman and this is black and white for anybody who wants to read it,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The Reliance spokesperson said the discussion on the proposed MoU was clearly with reference to cooperation between Airbus Helicopter and Reliance.

‘Facts twisted’

“It had no connection whatsoever with the government-to-government agreement between France and India for the 36 Rafale aircraft. It is in public domain that Airbus Helicopter has partnered with Mahindra for the military helicopter programme. Also, for the record, the MoU for the Rafale aircraft was signed between France and India on January 25, 2016, and not in April 2015. From the above, it is evident that the facts are being deliberately twisted and reality being ignored,” the spokesperson added.

Rahul Gandhi added that the Prime Minister acted in violation of OSA and criminal action must be taken against him.

“This istreason. Narendra Modi is doing what spies do. He is informing somebody about defence matter. He is under oath,” Gandhi said.

“This itself is criminal. This itself will put the Prime Minister in jail,” the Congress President said.

The Amethi MP alleged that the CAG report on the matter, which is to be tabled in Parliament, is a worthless report. In fact, I would term it as a ‘Chowkidar Auditor General Report’,” he added.

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