True: National Financial Prosecutor's Office disposed of a complaint of possible corruption in the sale of Rafale jets to India.

By: Ishita Goel
April 28 2021

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Mediapart reports suggest that all the corruption and favoritism charges against the Rafale sale contract have been brought down.In 2016, during the presidency of Francois Hollande, France sold 36 Dassault Rafale fighter jets to India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The sale deal was alleged for corruption in India and by the French NGO Sherpa. In 2018, Sherpa filed a complaint with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office or PNF. Sherpa suspected "potential corruption, grant of undue advantages, trading in influence the complicity of these offenses, concealment of corruption and laundering of these offenses." On April 6, 2021, the second report of the three-part investigative series of the Rafale deal from France to India was released by the French media Mediapart. The information revealed that Éliane Houlette, the then head of the public prosecution services' financial crimes branch (PNF) or National Financial Prosecutor's Office, "shelved investigations into evidence of corruption behind the deal, despite the contrary opinion of her colleagues." Adding to which France's current president, Emmanuel Macron, and his predecessor, François Hollande, were "cited in the allegations leveled in the case." However, Houlette cited "the interests of France, the workings of institutions" in her defense of the action. The Hindu reported in June 2019, Houlette had "decided to close the preliminary investigation into Sherpa's complaint, citing the absence of any offense, in a move which went against the advice of the deputy prosecutor in charge of the case and who refused to write up the official notification of it being dropped." The Paris public prosecution service's two magistrates validated the final report and were enacted by Jean-François Bohnert, head of the PNF. On April 8, Mediapart published the final report of a three-part investigation of the sale of the jets. The reports concluded that all the "anti-corruption clauses" were removed from the fighter contract. Following this, it was signed by the former French defense minister and present foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian. The alleged agreement was between an influential Indian businessman and Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation and French defense electronics firm Thales. Logically previously had found that, in November 2019, the Supreme Court had dismissed all the petitions seeking review of its verdict delivered in December 2018 on the controversy. It upheld the previous judgment stating that no irregularities or corruption have been found in the deal. However, the case was not closed by the Sherpa. As per reports by Mediapart, National Financial Prosecutor's Office has closed the anti-corruption charges against the Rafale jet sale contract.