The Congress on Wednesday took the rare step of petitioning the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for a thorough examination of the Rafale deal, alleging corruption and norm violations by the Narendra Modi government.

“We request the CAG to undertake its constitutional duty by conducting a time-bound special and forensic audit by examining the record threadbare, so that the truth is told to the people of India in a comprehensive and transparent manner affixing the responsibility of Modi government,” the petition said.

It detailed the history of the negotiations, accused Prime Minister Modi of deciding to buy the 36 fighter jets without following due procedure, and cited the controversies over the offset contract and the pricing.

CAG Rajiv Mehrishi told the Congress delegation his office was already studying the matter and had asked the government for the relevant documents.

It is the CAG’s constitutional mandate to audit the government’s expenses, and political parties hardly ever approach it with complaints.

Although the CAG would have taken the matter up in the normal course of his duties, the Congress has sought to create pressure to try and get an early report as it plans to use the Rafale deal as a major electoral issue.

It also plans to lodge a petition with the Chief Vigilance Commissioner on the subject.

Article 148 of the Constitution says: “It shall be the duty of the Comptroller and Auditor General to audit all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of each state and of each Union territory having a legislative assembly and to ascertain whether the moneys shown in the accounts as having been disbursed were legally available for and applicable to the service or purpose to which they have been applied or charged and whether the expenditure conforms to the authority which governs it.”

The CAG also has “to audit all transactions of the Union and of the states relating to contingency funds and public accounts; to audit all trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts and balance-sheets and other subsidiary accounts kept in any department of the Union or of a state; and in each case to report on the expenditure, transactions or accounts so audited by him.”

The Congress-led UPA government had been singed by CAG reports and the then Opposition BJP had built its 2014 political campaign on controversial projections of the losses to the exchequer in the 2G and coal scandals.

There have been several reports in the last four years pointing to possible irregularities under BJP governments in states such as Gujarat and in many departments even at the Centre, but the Congress has been unable to use these to trigger a political storm.

The Congress delegation to the CAG included Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, Rajiv Shukla and Vivek Tankha.

Surjewala later told reporters: “We pointed out to the CAG the gross discrepancies and the scam in the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft and how the public exchequer has lost Rs 41,000 crore. The fighter jet that the UPA was buying for Rs 526 crore (apiece) was purchased by the Modi government at the rate of Rs 1,670 per aircraft. We also pointed out how the Prime Minister had personally violated the defence procurement procedure and how public sector HAL, which had been selected as the offset partner, was junked.”

Asked whether the Congress had demanded a forensic audit, Sharma said: “Yes. We have specifically raised the issue of the tender issued after going through the due process. The defence minister and the Prime Minister say that the Rafale finalised by UPA was without weaponry and avionics. This is false. Once the tender document (under)goes a forensic examination, it will prove everything.”

The Congress has provided the CAG with a memorandum containing 17 annexures. It has provided a host of documents, including statements by key players, the annual report of Rafale manufacturer Dassault Aviation, and a list of the prices at which other countries have bought Rafale aircraft.

It has alleged a shoddy cover-up and accused Union ministers of weaving a web of lies in response to questions.