The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the Rafale deal is expected to be sent to the President on Monday.
When it will be tabled in Parliament is for the government to decide, officials said, pointing out that while it has to be presented to the legislature, no time frame has been specified in the Constitution. There have been instances in the past when governments have sat on reports for months on end.
On Sunday, the Congress raised a conflict-of-interest issue, which was immediately countered by Arun Jaitley.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal said CAG Rajiv Mehrishi was finance secretary from October 29, 2014, to August 30, 2015. It was during this period that the UPA-era Rafale deal was replaced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sibal said Mehrishi’s innings at the finance ministry and his current role created to a conflict of interest.
But minister Jaitley tweeted: “Secretary (economic affairs) has no role in expenditure files of the defence ministry. Defence ministry files are dealt with by secretary (expenditure). After ten years in government, former UPA ministers still don’t know that finance secretary is only a designation given to the senior most secretary in the finance ministry.”
