Times to times related News published in the Times of India covering Congress Leaders' Views:-
 
Bofors buried as govt drops case against Quattrocchi
 
Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN 30 September 2009, 02:12am IST
 
NEW DELHI: The Bofors case that led to Congress's defeat in the 1989 Lok Sabha polls has been given an official burial, with the government formally declaring its intention to drop proceedings against the key accused, Ottavio Quattrocchi.

The decision to lay off Quattrocchi, an Italian businessman accused of taking bribes from a Swedish gun manufacturer to facilitate the sale of the Bofors howitzers to India in 1986, was announced in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

"The Red Corner Notice against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi was withdrawn a year ago. There is not a rubble of evidence in the case to keep it prolonging in the trial court. We have decided to withdraw all prosecution and close the case," solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam informed SC.

"The CBI pursued the case because of the pendency of the Red Corner Notice, which was withdrawn on November 25, 2008. We will pursue the case if any new evidence comes to light. But for the present, there is not even a vestige of evidence because of which we faced a reversal in getting Quattrocchi extradited, first from Malaysia and then from Argentina," he told a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan.

The decision to give a burial to the Bofors case, in which the FIR was filed during the V P Singh regime in 1991 and the chargesheet during NDA government's reign in 1999, was taken by the UPA government three days ago, during the Puja vacation, on the basis of a fresh opinion given by attorney general G E Vahanvati.

As a logical corollary to the announcement, the public prosecutor in the case will move an application for closure before the trial court, which is scheduled to hear the case on October 3. Though trial courts have the power to decline prosecution's requests, they don't exercise it very often.

Subramaniam's bold tone contrasted sharply with the furtive moves Congress regimes allegedly made to help the accused in a case that remained a bone of contention between the party and its opponents for close to two decades.

Still, few would have been surprised by it. A closure of the case had looked imminent since UPA-I allowed Quattrocchi to take out his money -- allegedly his share of the Bofors kickbacks -- from accounts with a bank in London. It followed that up by not pressing hard for his extradition from Argentina and by, subsequently, telling Interpol that he was no longer wanted in India.

Interestingly, Subramaniam cited Interpol's decision to take him off its own "wanted" list to back up the Centre's argument to wind up the sputtering case against Quattrocchi.

Though the case was not getting anywhere with investigating agencies reaching a dead end, both the BJP and CPM attacked the government for its stand before the apex court. "This was bound to happen. This government has always been trying to protect Quattrocchi," BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said, referring to the moves under UPA-I to give a clean chit to the Italian and help him access his money. "Quattrocchi knows too much and he has been receiving patronage," Prasad further said in thinly veiled reference to the Italian's links with Congress leaders. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat reacted by calling the decision an "example of how legal devices and delays are used to scuttle the case".

Congress was defiant and dismissed the protests with disdain. "It is a good step, though taken rather late. The Opposition has been bringing out the phantom of Bofors from the cupboard and slaying it again and again for the last 23 years," party spokesperson Manish Tiwari said.

Though both the BJP and CPM are expected to persist with their attack strategy, Congress has little reason to be perturbed. The memory of the kickbacks -- the first proven one concerning a defence deal -- has faded and the party has skilfully used the failure of the efforts under the BJP-controlled NDA to kickstart the investigations to defend itself against the charge of subversion of the case.

On Tuesday, Tiwari again stressed the same. "The case did not stand legal scrutiny in any court in India or abroad." He further said, "It is time that the era of character assassination over the issue going on in Indian politics for the last 23 years is brought to an end."

In the Supreme Court, the SG argued that with the decision taken by the Centre and CBI to close the case, there was no reason for the apex court to keep pending the PIL filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal questioning the consent given by the government to the British crown prosecution to defreeze Quattrocchi's London bank account, which was frozen on the allegation that part of the kickbacks in the Bofors deal was deposited there.

Agrawal said, "The CBI has been treating Quattrocchi as its son-in-law and the government was hand-in-glove in facilitating the escape of the Italian businessman from the clutches of law." He said it was a serious matter and hence the court should hear his PIL at length raising several important questions. The Bench fixed further hearing on December 11.

Attorney General Vahanvati appeared to have agreed with his predecessor Milon Banerjee, who had opined closure of the case. However, UPA-I could not act on the opinion to close the Bofors case as elections were round the corner and hence had to seek fresh legal opinion on the issue from the present AG.

Subramaniam said the decision was also driven by the fact that two Delhi High Court judgments, one in 2004 and the other in 2005, broke the basis of the chargesheet by terming that the evidence did not make out a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and that there was no conspiracy among the accused.

Because of the two judgments, the government failed to extradite Quattrocchi, who was arrested on the basis of the pending Red Corner Notice, from Malaysia and Argentina, the SG said.

"We had to take a call at some time. We failed in Malaysia and in Argentina. All payments for Bofors guns were made in 1990. The ammunition purchased then had been fired and gone. The government had to take a call. And it had taken a call, that is not to keep the matter in an ambivalent state. If there is no corruption, what is the point in pursuing the matter," he said.
 
Country tired of Bofors case: Bhardwaj
 
Akshaya Mukul, TNN 30 April 2009, 02:07am IST
Justifying government's decision to withdraw the Red Corner Notice against Ottavio Quattrocchi, law minister HR Bhardwaj says Bofors case is old and all the characters have died. Bhardwaj also says there is no warrant against the Italian businessman.
 
Bofors case is back in the news?
This is a 20-year-old case. Governments have come and gone. VP Singh got the case registered. Then Narasimha Rao came, Atal Bihari Vajpayee came. But nothing happened. The primary case is of corruption by a public servant. From Rajiv Gandhi to former defence secretary SK Bhatnagar were targeted. As additional solicitor general during VP Singh's time Arun Jaitley went to Switzerland. It took so much time to find anything against Rajiv Gandhi or Bhatnagar. Then the prosecution could not bring Quattrocchi. It is an old case in which all characters have died. It should come to an end. Even Vajpayee wanted to end the matter but Advani never wanted it.

Is removal of Red Corner Notice linked to few days left for this government?
We are coming back to power. (Laughs). Let's see the evidence in the case. In 2002, Malaysian court said Quattrocchi has committed no offence. A huge expenditure was made by CBI in that case. BJP should have known there is no case. When they were in power Hindujas challenged all the charges against them. Delhi High Court quashed all charges of corruption. It is a final order now. After quashing they said only charge under section 420 is left.

Still how is the removal of Red Corner justified?
Tell me how a case against section 420 is made out against Quattrocchi. He did not negotiate the deal. It was government of India officials and middlemen like Win Chadha. BJP is groping in the dark. Government of India does not even any original papers.

But why withdraw the Notice?
Red Corner Notice is on a wrong assumption. In Argentina, he was released because CBI did not have warrant. Quattrocchi filed a case against government of India and CBI. He said at the age of 70 I am being harassed. Then CBI referred the matter to attorney general. A-G said there was no warrant and Red Corner Notice should be removed forthwith. Now CBI has to inform the court.

You still justify the timing?
You talk of timing because BJP has politicised it. Date for court hearing is not fixed by me. It is coming up coming up in court tomorrow (Thursday). BJP is attacking the A-G and government. A-G will speak the truth.

You think the Notice should have been withdrawn earlier.
After losing in Malayasia, CBI should have informed the Interpol court. Even after Delhi High Court order they should have informed there is no case of corruption. See the 1997 warrant against Quattrocchi was executed in Malayasia during BJP's rule in Delhi. Again Delhi HC order came during their time. Government lawyer then said there is no case of corruption and no evidence to connect accused persons. Mukul Rohtagi argued it. They could not even produce an original document. It is an old story. It is our grievance that BJP is making insinuation and is trying to embarrass us.

It is said you are close to Sonia Gandhi and therefore did this?
Petty people think petty. I am not CBI director. If I had my say I would have finished it after my leader Rajiv Gandhi died. HC judgment during BJP's time said the same thing. It was nobody's case.

Are you close to her?
Entire Congress is close to the family. I am also loyal to the family.

What role did you play?
Everything is attributed to me. My legal opinion is what the law is. I cannot give legal opinion to suit people.

Will it have an impact on the election?
Nobody is bothered. Country is tired of Bofors.
 
 
PM says Bofors case 'embarrassing', defends CBI
TNN 3 May 2009, 04:27am IST
 
 

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has defended the CBI's move to remove Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, key accused in the Bofors kickbacks scam, from its wanted list and withdrawal of an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him by saying the case had become an "embarrassment" for the government.

 

"It is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people while the world says we have no case," said the PM breaking his silence on the Quattrocchi case. His remarks to a TV channel, even as trial court proceedings are still on, amount to a virtual exoneration of Quattrocchi who has been on the run from CBI for more than a decade, and confirms government's keenness to wind up the Bofors probe.

"Quattrocchi case is an embarrassment for the government of India -- we tried to extradite him from Malaysia ...from Argentina -- and the courts said we don't have a strong case. Before the matter was referred, Interpol asked India why do you want to keep him under a RCN -- the law minister referred to AG (attorney general) who gave advice that it should be lifted," the PM said.

The remarks came just after CBI, acting in concert with the government, told the Interpol to take Quattrocchi off its "wanted" list, and confirmed the CBI's statement that it was still looking for ways to bring the Bofors fugitive back, did not mean anything.

Both BJP and CPM attacked Singh for his statement. Sudheendra Kulkarni, senior BJP functionary, said that the PM's statement was outrageous. Coming after government's role in the de-freezing of Quattrocchi's bank account and CBI's communication to the Interpol that it was no longer interested in the fugitive Bofors accused completed the "government-assisted acquittal of the fugitive without trial and an endorsement of his charge that judiciary in India was not fair".

CPM's Brinda Karat also attacked the Prime Minister. "It is shameful for the Prime Minister to defend the indefensible," said the member of the CPM politburo.

The CBI is administratively under the department of personnel and training which is under the PM's charge at present. Though CBI is supposedly an autonomous organisation, its U-turns in the Bofors case are not devoid of government backing or even prodding. In the case of the CBI clean chit to former minister Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases, PMO had put out that Singh had not been in the know.

While law enforcement agencies can sometime fail to nab an accused due to lack of evidence, witnessess or procedural wrangles, the PM's view that the Italian was being in fact "harassed" flies against CBI's painstaking investigations that tracked the Bofors money trail. A part of the money was tracked to Quattrocchi's London accounts which were defrozen in 2006.  

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