Government claims privilege over Rafale documents in SC, says no one can produce them without permission

The Centre Thursday claimed privilege over documents pertaining to Rafale fighter jet deal and told the Supreme Court that no one can produce them in the court without the permission of the department concerned.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, referred to section 123 of the Evidence Act and provisions of RTI Act to buttress his claim.

The hearing is currently underway before a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph.