Stolen Rafale Notes

Nirmala Sitharaman defends AG over ‘stolen’ Rafale notes, Chidambaram takes a dig

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has defended Attorney General KK Venugopal, who argued in the Supreme Court against admitting “secret” documents pertaining to Rafale deal. The documents were cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan while arguing for a review of a Supreme Court judgment rejecting the plea for independent probe in Rafale deal.

Taking to Twitter, Sitharaman said Venugopal in his submission in the Supreme Court meant that the documents cited by the petitioner was “secret” and not be put out in public domain. She said the attorney general clarified his statement in an interview with news agency PTI.

“Learned AG KK Venugopal told @PTI_News the Rafale documents were not stolen from the Defence Ministry & what he meant in his submission before the Supreme Court was that petitioners in the application used “photocopies of the original” papers, deemed secret by the government,” Sitharaman wrote on Twitter.

The change of stand by the government on “stolen” documents drew a swipe from Congress leader P Chidambaram. In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said the “thief” may have returned them.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has defended Attorney General KK Venugopal, who argued in the Supreme Court against admitting “secret” documents pertaining to Rafale deal. The documents were cited by lawyer Prashant Bhushan while arguing for a review of a Supreme Court judgment rejecting the plea for independent probe in Rafale deal.
Taking to Twitter, Sitharaman said Venugopal in his submission in the Supreme Court meant that the documents cited by the petitioner was “secret” and not be put out in public domain. She said the attorney general clarified his statement in an interview with news agency PTI.

“Learned AG KK Venugopal told @PTI_News the Rafale documents were not stolen from the Defence Ministry & what he meant in his submission before the Supreme Court was that petitioners in the application used “photocopies of the original” papers, deemed secret by the government,” Sitharaman wrote on Twitter.

The change of stand by the government on “stolen” documents drew a swipe from Congress leader P Chidambaram. In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said the “thief” may have returned them.