Paris, The Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is reportedly obstructing a French justice investigation into the controversial Rafale fighter jet deal with India, as per a report by Mediapart, an independent French investigative online newspaper.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the report states that the Modi government has, without officially stating so, declined to fulfill a request for mutual assistance from French judges investigating the corruption allegations surrounding the 2016 sale of 36 Rafale fighter jets to India by Dassault for 7.8 billion euros. This refusal is seen as a deliberate attempt by the Indian government to derail the investigation.
The report details how the Indian government has not only failed to execute the French judges’ request for international criminal assistance, made in November 2022, but has also ignored it. The French embassy in India ran into months of non-communication from the Indian Interior Ministry, leading to frustration and a diplomatic note issued by the French ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain.
The French and Indian governments are reportedly united in their desire to slow down the investigation, which could implicate three heads of state: Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron, and his predecessor François Hollande. French investigating judges have faced refusals to declassify documents related to the case.
Mediapart’s revelations, based on documents from Indian legal proceedings, have uncovered that influential Indian intermediary Sushen Gupta received 12.8 million euros in kickbacks from Dassault through alleged false invoices. Gupta claimed to have distributed money to facilitate the Rafale sale to India, but these revelations were not pursued by Indian investigators.
The French investigation also sought to conduct searches in the offices of one of Gupta’s companies and the headquarters of Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited (Dral), a joint venture created by Dassault and the Reliance group led by Anil Ambani, who is close to Prime Minister Modi and suspected of being imposed as a partner by the Indian government.
French ambassador Lenain’s diplomatic note highlights the challenges of mutual criminal assistance with India, suggesting the use of the Anti-corruption G20 summit in Calcutta to advance the matter.
This development indicates significant hurdles for the French investigating judges, as they face obstacles in obtaining crucial documents both from France and India, hindering the progress of the corruption investigation into the Rafale deal.