YASHWANT SINHA & ORS. versus CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION THROUGH ITS DIRECTOR & ANR.

Citation: [2019] 17 S.C.R. 917 · Decided: 14-11-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: RANJAN GOGOI, SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, K.M. JOSEPH · Disposal: Disposed off

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 17 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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YASHWANT SINHA & ORS.
v.
CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
THROUGH ITS DIRECTOR & ANR.
(Review Petition (Crl.) No. 46 of 2019)
In
(Writ Petition (Crl.) No.298 of 2018)
NOVEMBER, 14, 2019
[RANJAN GOGOI, CJI, SANJAY KISHAN KAUL
AND K. M. JOSEPH, JJ.]
Rafale Fighter Jets Case – Judgment – Correction of
Judgment – The Union of India filed an application seeking
correction of what they claim to be an error, in two sentences in
Para 25 of the judgment delivered on 14.12.2018 – The error stated
to be on account of a misinterpretation of some sentences in a note
handed over to Supreme Court in a sealed cover – Held (Per Sanjay
Kishan Kaul, J. for himself and Ranjan Gogoi, CJI.): The prayer
is accepted and the sentence in para 25 to the following effect –
“The pricing details have, however, been shared with the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the report of the CAG
has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Only
a redacted portion of the report was placed before the Parliament
and in public domain” should be replaced by: “ The Government
has already shared the pricing details with the CAG. The report of
the CAG is examined by the PAC in the usual course of business.
Only a redacted version of the report is placed before the
Parliament and in Public domain”.
Rafale Fighter Jets Case – Judgment – Review of – It was
contended by the petitioner that in writ petition a prayer was made
for registration of an FIR and investigation by the CBI, which was
not dealt with and the contract was reviewed prematurely by the
Judiciary without the benefit of investigation and inquiry into the
disputed questions of facts – Held (Per Sanjay Kishan Kaul, J.
for himself and Ranjan Gogoi, CJI.) : Not a fair submission for
the reason that all counsels, including counsel representing the
petitioners in this matter addressed elaborate submissions on all
   [2019] 17 S.C.R. 917
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 17 S.C.R.
the aspects – There was a prayer for registration of F.I.R and
further investigation but then once all the aspects were examined
on merits, the Supreme Court did not consider it appropriate to issue
any directions.
Rafale Fighter Jets Case – Judgment – Review of – Pricing
of the Jets – Held (Per Sanjay Kishan Kaul, J. for himself and
Ranjan Gogoi, CJI.) : It is not the function of the Supreme Court
to determine the prices nor for that matter can such aspects be
dealt with on mere suspicion of persons who decide to approach
the Court – The internal mechanism of such pricing would take
care of the situation – The pricing of the basic aircraft had to be
compared which was competitively marginally lower – As to what
should be loaded on the aircraft or not and what further pricing
should be added has to be left to the best judgment of the
competent authorities.
Rafale Fighter Jets Case – Judgment – Review of – Contempt
Petition – The contempt petition emanates from an allegation
against the then President of the Indian National Congress on
account of utterances made in the presence of several media
persons that the Supreme Court was in consonance with what his
discourse was, i.e. that the prime Minister of India stole money from
the Air Force and give it to a particular business group and Prime
Minister had indulged in corruption – Held (Sanjay Kishan Kaul,
J. for himself and Ranjan Gogoi, CJI.): The matter was
compounded by filing a 20 page affidavit with a large number of
documents annexed rather than simply accepting the mistake and
giving an unconditional apology – However, a subsequent affidavit
was filed on 08.05.2019 with better wisdom – In view of the
subsequent affidavit, better sense having prevailed – The Contempt
Proceedings are closed with a word of caution for the contemnor
to be more careful in future.
Rafale Fighter Jets Case – Judgment – Review of – The
complaint is that the Supreme Court totally overlooked the relief
sought in Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 298 of 2018 – In the said
writ petition, the petitioner had sought registration of an F.I.R. and
investigation of the offences disclosed – The petitioners in the said
case, premise their case on the judgment of the Supreme Court in
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Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others – It is
contended that error is apparent in not even considering the impact
of the Constitution Bench and requires to be redressed through the
Review Petition – Held (Per K.M. Joseph, J.(concurring)) : The
fou

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