The CBI on Friday moved to the Supreme Court against a 12-year-old high court verdict that closed the Bofors case. UK-based industrialists, the Hinduja brothers, and the Swedish firm were the accused parties, now acquitted by the Delhi High Court.
CBI’s petition against High Court’s order
In a parliamentary meeting held on Tuesday, the CBI officials informed the panel of having gathered enough evidence in Bofors deal to file a special leave petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court. Attorney General KK Venugopal reportedly gave oral permission to the CBI to file the appeal. Fearing dismissal for the long delay he advised the government not to appeal. However, sources say that seeing fresh documents with CBI officials, Mr Venugopal changed his mind.
Ajay Aggarwal, a BJP member and advocate, last year challenged the high court judgment in the Rs. 64-crore Bofors scandal. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is heading the bench set up on his plea.
Bofors scam and the aftermath
The allegations of 1986 Bofors howitzer gun deal left the Congress devastated. Furthermore, the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress government lost power for several years. Allegations hinted at the payment of bribes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and few other officials. Michael Hershman, a detective from the US-based firm Fairfax, found that the Rajiv Gandhi government’s interference in the investigation. This is cited as the primary reason why CBI considered appealing against the High Court. There also was no evidential existence of Rajiv Gandhi accepting bribes. Eventually, the charges were dropped by the Delhi High Court in 2005.
Earlier this week the CBI Director Alok Verma, additional director Rakesh Asthana and the secretary of Department of Personnel & Training Ajay Mittal gave an attestation before the public accounts committee’s sub-committee on defence. The committee is also looking for non-compliance with the audit report on the Bofors Howitzer gun deal. BJP MP and a panel member Nishikant Dubey suggested CBI file SLP on the basis of income tax tribunal order in the case filed by the son of the late Win Chadha, an accused. Dubey also suggested the use of Joint Parliamentary Committee report on Bofors for filing SLP.