Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party targeted the Congress following the Supreme Court’s clean chit to the government on the Rafale deal, Rahul Gandhi hit back raising questions about the basis of the court order.

Addressing a press conference, Gandhi on Friday accused the government of telling “lies” and raised questions over the statement that a parliamentary committee had examined the pricing details of the Rafale deal and asserted that there was no such meeting.

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After a battery of BJP leaders demanded his apology for his campaign against the government on the issue, he maintained an aggressive posture attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and persisted with demand for a JPC which, he said, will expose the “lies”.

Citing the Supreme Court judgement that referred to a parliamentary committee having examined the price details of the fighter jet, he said no such meeting was held.

“Today Supreme Court gave a judgement and I want to read three lines from it. ‘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).’ This is the foundation of the judgment,” Gandhi said.

According to reports, the CAG hasn’t submitted anything to PAC, and the factual error in the court’s order provided Gandhi with fresh ammunition.

Party leader Mallikarjun Kharge, the PAC Chairman who was at the press conference, said no such report came before the panel and the CAG was also not aware of it.

“I asked the Deputy CAG today how it happened. Did someone forge my signatures? If the report is not with CAG, it cannot be with PAC. PAC presents its report to Parliament which I have not done. And it comes into public domain through Parliament,. How did it come, who gave it? The rules say that till the report is presented in Parliament, no one can speak on it,” Kharge said.

“How did it happen. It is really surprising. PAC has been dragged into it,” he added.

Gandhi said questions were rising after the Supreme Court judgment, which was the basic foundation of the BJP’s argument.

“The report was not seen in the PAC, but it was seen by the Supreme Court. I cannot understand this. Because when you say a lie, then it comes out somewhere,” he said

“Now the government should tell us where is this CAG report. Show it to us and to the PAC chairman. Or probably there is some other PAC in some other Parliament. I don’t know. This is possible in the 21st century that Modiji has his own PAC in the PMO. Institutions have been destroyed. I don’t know what is happening,” Gandhi added.

The Congress chief insisted that there had been “a theft” of Rs 30,000 crore of public money.

Going with his evergreen slogan, the Congress president claimed that no one will buy the BJP’s arguments because “whole of India understands that the chowkidar is a thief”.

The Congress has been attacking the government on the deal which it claims was inked at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated. Rahul Gandhi has further alleged that the contract was snatched from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to benefit Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group.

Read | ‘Not for court to scrutinise’: What the Supreme Court said in Rafale deal verdict

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had on Friday dismissed all the petitions seeking probe into the deal. The CJI had said the court studied the materials carefully and interacted with defence officials, and was “satisfied” with the NDA government’s decision making process.

Following the verdict, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a concerted attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Read | Following SC verdict on Rafale, BJP demands Rahul Gandhi’s apology

Demanding an apology from the 48-year-old Congress chief for alleging that the Rafale deal was a “scam”, BJP president Amit Shah said that today’s verdict is “a slap on politics of lies”.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh slammed Gandhi for misleading the public to reap political dividends and malign India’s image.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the verdict vindicates BJP’s stand on the deal.

While slamming the Congress, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said that all opposition parties for the “lies that they pedalled all these months” must apologise.

The Congress, meanwhile, has reiterated its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the deal.