The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the review petitions against its verdict in the Rafale deal on grounds that they lacked merit, reiterating its clean chit to the Modi government in the fighter jet agreement with French firm Dassault Aviation.

The apex court also rejected the contention that there was need to register an FIR in connection with the Rs 58,000 crore deal.

The pleas had sought re-examination of the apex court’s December 14, 2018 verdict that there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets.

“We find the review petitions are without any merit,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph said.

The rejection of review petitions is tantamount to the apex court giving a second clean chit to the Modi government.