oppn parties After Supreme Court's Order, The Opposition Must Act Responsibly In Making Accusations In Defence Deals

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October 17, 2026

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
After Supreme Court's Order, The Opposition Must Act Responsibly In Making Accusations In Defence Deals

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

What Rahul Gandhi and the Congress thought was their clinching punch line (chowkidar chor hai) in the 2019 general elections first found no resonance with the voters and has now been dismissed by the Supreme Court. The court has dismissed pleas for a review of its original decision where it had given a clean chit to the government in the case of corruption in the procurement of the 36 Rafale jets. It has also dismissed the pleas for a CBI inquiry saying that there is no need for a roving inquiry in the deal. It has also warned Rahul Gandhi to be more circumspect in his utterances (misreading an earlier apex court judgment, Gandhi had said that the Supreme Court had said PM Modi was "chor") but has dropped contempt proceedings against him in the matter.

This should bring closure to the accusations. Ever since the Bofors deal, Indian defence purchase has moved into the slow lane as administrations were worried about the fallout of mega deals. This has made India's defence forces vulnerable as neighbouring countries like Pakistan and China have acquired advance weapons systems while India has lagged behind. Accusations of corruption are made from various sources in any defence deal. But mostly, the sources could be competitors who lost out or middlemen who could not push their products. Politicians in India often latch on to material provided by these competitors or middlemen to make the accusations. In the interests of the nation, such politicians should now avoid the urge to discredit defence deals based on material from dubious sources just to score political points and move ahead only if they have a solid proof. It is no one's case that corruption, even in defence deals, be brushed under the carpet. But politicians must paint everything with the same brush and eschew sensationalism.

The accusations in the rafale deal were particularly damaging as without any verifiable money trail or middlemen, just to try and nail the government for kickbacks because the price had jumped is not done. The final Rafale jets being purchased are far superior and loaded than were being considered during UPA's time. Any advanced system is definitely going to be a lot costlier than the base model. The Opposition parties in India must realize that if they continue raising imaginary red flags on defence deals, a time will come when the Indian armed forces would become the laughing stock of the world, others will spin circles around our outdated fighter jets and we would be sending our brave soldiers to their graves on obsolete equipment.

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