Rafale remarks: Abhishek Manu Singhvi faces defamation suit of Rs 5,000 crore

tnn | Updated: Dec 16, 2017, 08:37 IST

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

AHMEDABAD: Following allegations and counter-allegations made ahead of the Gujarat
assembly polls, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi faces a defamation suit of Rs
5,000 crore from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The matter has now reached the Gujarat
high court. The group's Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd had filed the defamation suit with a
civil court in Rajula in Amreli district taking exception to "false, defamatory and libellous
statements" in connection with the contract awarded in the Rafale deal.

On November 30, Singhvi had said in Delhi that Union finance minister Arun Jaitley was fooling
people by saying that the government had not waived loans of big defaulters. Singhvi had said,
"We all know that top 50 corporates owe Rs 8.35 lakh crore to banks and of those, the three top
Gujarat-based companies — Reliance (Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group), Adani and Essar — owe
Rs 3 lakh crore." Singhvi reportedly said that instead of declaring the liabilities as NPAs, Jaitley
was "trying to help the defaulter with further defence contracts like the Refale deal". The company
first clarified its position and then filed the defamation suit. A Reliance Defence statement had
earlier said that the joint venture between Reliance Aerostructure Ltd and Dassault Aviation was
a bilateral agreement between two private companies and had nothing to do with the government.

The statement had added: "Dassault Reliance Aerospace Ltd will be only one of the key players
in the discharge of offset obligations. Over 500 large, medium and small Indian companies will
benefit from the offsets which are nothing but an export obligation for goods and services from
India. Offsets referred to are spread over a period of nearly 10 years." The company's
manufacturing facility and registered office is situated in Rajula. The company's advocate,
Saurabh Amin, said that the civil court returned the suit on the grounds of jurisdiction, on
December 8. The company has filed an appeal in the high court against the lower court's order.
The high court has posted the hearing on the appeal on December 18.

Amin, said that the civil court returned the suit on the grounds of jurisdiction, on December 8.
The company has filed an appeal in the high court against the lower court's order. The high court
has posted the hearing on the appeal on December 18.