The supreme court on Thursday dismissed the petitions seeking a review of its December 2018 verdict on the Rafale deal. The bench found no merit in review petitions that had sought an investigation into the high-profile defence deal.

“We don’t feel necessary to order FIR or roving inquiry into Rafale deal case,” said a three-judge bench of chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, justice SK Kaul and justice KM Joseph.

Last year, the apex court had dismissed two petitions, one from Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Prashant Bhushan, and the other by Sanjay Singh of AAP, seeking a court-monitored probe into the India-France deal of 2014 for 36 Rafale fighter aircraft.

The critics and opposition parties have for long alleged irregularities in the deal. Originally, the UPA government had prepared the groundwork for the deal and negotiated through an open tender the price for 126 aircraft built by Dassault Aviation of France. The NDA government changed the price and parameters and inviting accusations of wrongdoing.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain welcomed the decision, and tweeted, “Satyamev Jayate.”

Meanwhile, the supreme court also closed contempt proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking him to be more careful. In another important move, the court referred its earlier verdict on allowing the entry of women in the Sabarimala temple to a larger bench.