Silent death of the Bofors mystery
The Bofors case will be soon laid to rest and the mystery will remain unsolved forever. In 1987, Indians were in for a rude shock when their beloved Prime Minister was allegedly accused of being involved in the Bofors gun scandal.
CJ: Sajna Menon
IN 1987, Indians were in for a rude shock when their beloved Prime Minister was allegedly involved in a scandal. It was revealed that Rs. 64 crores in kickbacks was received by the then Congress government for a deal with AB Bofors. Two decades and Rs 250 crore (the most Indian expensive investigation) later, the Bofors case is going to be buried silently.
AB Bofors signed a Rs.1437 crore deal with the Indian government to supply 400 howitzer guns. However, the deal was signed after a few people received kickbacks. The scandal shook Indian politics and even led to the defeat of the Congress in the 1989 general elections. It was the first time a Prime Minister of the country was implicated in corruption.
Another person who made headlines was Ottavio Quattrocchi, a middleman and an Italian businessman, who allegedly had close links with Rajiv and the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi. It was stated that the Congress government gave lot of contracts to Quattrocchi’s petro-chemical firm in the 1980s.
The scam swept public faith away from the PM so much so that a derogatory slogans against the Prime Minister became popular. After the print media took a dig at the scandal, television also sprung into action. Many other small scandals were spawned.
In 1993, Quattrocchi one of the main accused, left India and went to Kuala Lumpur. He now lives in Argentina, a country with which the Indian government doesn’t have an extradition treaty. Even the Hinduja brothers were accused of receiving money and were asked to appear before the court several times. They however got acquitted in 2005 and the CBI was blamed by the court for messing up the investigation. It is also a shame that the CBI failed to provide ‘authentic’ documents from Switzerland pertaining to the case.
Two years ago, the Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against Quattrocchi. The recent efforts of the Congress government to scuttle the case became public after the centre’s bid to withdraw the case against the Italian businessman.
Despite CBI’s investigation and the amount of money spent on it, it is interesting to note that not a single person was convicted in the two decades of legal battle conducted across the world. It is also ironical that even though newspapers like Indian Express and the Hindu provided enough proof to substantiate the criminal case, the CBI failed miserably.
The investigations were halted many a times in these two decades. Except Quattrocchi, every accused in the case has been acquitted. Some have died. It is surprising that even the BJP when in power could do nothing to expedite the investigation process and bring the guilty to book. The scandal was just used for political gains during elections.
After two decades, the only option seems to be withdrawing the case. The case remains stagnant and there have been no major revelations. Congress wants the scandal to be buried deep forever so that it does not haunt or question the party’s principles. It wasn’t the judiciary or the CBI that dealt with the case. Politics ensured its burial and it now will remain an unsolved mystery.
CJ: Sajna Menon
IN 1987, Indians were in for a rude shock when their beloved Prime Minister was allegedly involved in a scandal. It was revealed that Rs. 64 crores in kickbacks was received by the then Congress government for a deal with AB Bofors. Two decades and Rs 250 crore (the most Indian expensive investigation) later, the Bofors case is going to be buried silently.
AB Bofors signed a Rs.1437 crore deal with the Indian government to supply 400 howitzer guns. However, the deal was signed after a few people received kickbacks. The scandal shook Indian politics and even led to the defeat of the Congress in the 1989 general elections. It was the first time a Prime Minister of the country was implicated in corruption.
Another person who made headlines was Ottavio Quattrocchi, a middleman and an Italian businessman, who allegedly had close links with Rajiv and the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi. It was stated that the Congress government gave lot of contracts to Quattrocchi’s petro-chemical firm in the 1980s.
The scam swept public faith away from the PM so much so that a derogatory slogans against the Prime Minister became popular. After the print media took a dig at the scandal, television also sprung into action. Many other small scandals were spawned.
In 1993, Quattrocchi one of the main accused, left India and went to Kuala Lumpur. He now lives in Argentina, a country with which the Indian government doesn’t have an extradition treaty. Even the Hinduja brothers were accused of receiving money and were asked to appear before the court several times. They however got acquitted in 2005 and the CBI was blamed by the court for messing up the investigation. It is also a shame that the CBI failed to provide ‘authentic’ documents from Switzerland pertaining to the case.
Two years ago, the Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against Quattrocchi. The recent efforts of the Congress government to scuttle the case became public after the centre’s bid to withdraw the case against the Italian businessman.
Despite CBI’s investigation and the amount of money spent on it, it is interesting to note that not a single person was convicted in the two decades of legal battle conducted across the world. It is also ironical that even though newspapers like Indian Express and the Hindu provided enough proof to substantiate the criminal case, the CBI failed miserably.
The investigations were halted many a times in these two decades. Except Quattrocchi, every accused in the case has been acquitted. Some have died. It is surprising that even the BJP when in power could do nothing to expedite the investigation process and bring the guilty to book. The scandal was just used for political gains during elections.
After two decades, the only option seems to be withdrawing the case. The case remains stagnant and there have been no major revelations. Congress wants the scandal to be buried deep forever so that it does not haunt or question the party’s principles. It wasn’t the judiciary or the CBI that dealt with the case. Politics ensured its burial and it now will remain an unsolved mystery.
Sat, Oct 10, 2009 15:46:32 IST
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