New Delhi. In a major setback to Government, the Supreme Court on April 10 passed an order on 36 Rafale procurement case stating that it would look into the documents that were not in the public domain, while deciding on the review petitions.

The review petitions are pending and are yet to be heard.

In the review petitions, the petitioners have relied upon the documents, some of which could not have been placed in public domain. The Central Government raised an objection that while considering review petitions, the said documents may not be considered as they are classified.

The Supreme Court by a well-reasoned judgement and order dated December 14, 2018 had already dismissed the Writ Petitions.

It is reiterated that the petitioners are using documents with the intention to present a selective and incomplete picture of internal secret deliberations on a matter relating to national security and defence.

The documents presented by the petitioners are failing to bring out how the issues were addressed and resolved and necessary approvals of the competent authorities taken. These are selective and incomplete presentation of the facts and records by the petitioners.

Government had provided the requisite information as desired by the Supreme Court to the Court and also to the petitioners as per directions and in the manner prescribed by the Court. It also provided all records and files as required by Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The main concern of the Government is relating to availability of sensitive and classified information concerning national security in the public domain.