Chronology of events in Rafale case
Following is the chronology of events in the Rafale deal case in which the Supreme Court Wednesday reserved its order on pleas seeking a court-monitored probe in the procurement of 36 fighter jets from France. -Dec 30, 2002: Defence Procurement Procedures (DPP) adopted to streamline procurement procedures. -Aug 28, 2007: Ministry of Defence issues Request for Proposal for procurement of 126 MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) fighters. -Sep 4, 2008: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group incorporates Reliance Aerospace Technologies Ltd (RATL). -May 2011: Air Force shortlists Rafale and Eurofighter jets. -Jan 30, 2012: Dassault Aviation's Rafale aircraft comes up with the lowest bid. -Mar 13, 2014: Work Share agreement signed between HAL & Dassault Aviation under which they were responsible for 70 per cent and 30 per cent of the work, respectively, for 108 aircraft. -Aug 8, 2014: Then defence minister Arun Jaitley tells Parliament 18 direct 'fly-away' aircraft expected to be delivered in 3-4 years from signing of the contract. 108 aircraft to be delivered in following seven years. -Apr 8: Then foreign secretary says detailed discussions underway between Dassault, MoD and HAL. -Apr 10: New deal for the acquisition of 36 direct 'fly-away' aircraft from France announced. -Jan 26, 2016: India and France sign MoU for 36 Rafale aircraft. -Sep 23: Inter-governmental agreement signed. -Nov 18: Government states in Parliament the cost of each Rafale aircraft to be approximately Rs 670 crore and that all aircraft will be delivered by April 2022. -Dec 31: Dassault Aviation's Annual Report reveals the actual price paid for the 36 aircrafts at about Rs. 60,000 crore, more than double the government's stated price in Parliament. [caption id="attachment_216623" align="aligncenter" width="759"] SC reserves order on pleas seeking court-monitored probe in Rafale deal[/caption] -Mar 13: PIL in SC seeks an independent probe into Centre's decision to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets from France and disclosure of the cost involved in the deal before Parliament. -Sep 5, 2018: SC agrees to hear next week PIL seeking a stay on Rafale fighter jet deal. -Sep 18: SC adjourns hearing on PIL seeking a stay on Rafale fighter jet deal to October 10. -Oct 8: SC agrees to hear on October 10 fresh PIL seeking direction to Centre to file in "sealed cover" the details of the agreement for buying 36 Rafale fighter Jets. -Oct 10: SC asks Centre to provide details of the decision-making process in the Rafale fighter jet deal in a sealed cover. -Oct 24: Former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan move SC seeking registration of FIR into Rafale fighter jet deal. -Oct 31: SC asks Centre to place before it in a sealed cover within 10 days the pricing details of 36 Rafale fighter jets. -Nov 12: Centre places price details of 36 Rafale fighter jets in a sealed cover before SC. It also gives details of steps that led to finalisation of the Rafale deal. -Nov 14: SC reserves order on pleas seeking court-monitored probe in Rafale deal. PTI