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Bofors: The Return of The Smoking Gun
George Iype in New Delhi
The Central Bureau of Investigation has sent a fresh letter to
the Swiss government asking it to immediately dispatch the second
set of secret bank documents relating to the controversial Bofors
case.
CBI Director R C Sharma's communication to Rudolf Wyss, deputy
director of the Swiss government's department of police matters,
states that the absence of the remaining documents has hindered
the investigation into the Bofors scandal in India.
The Swiss authorities handed over the first bunch of more
than 500 pages of secret bank documents to India in January.
Though the second set of papers were to be delivered in
June, the Swiss authorities failed to do so, saying the matter
is still pending in the cantonal courts there.
The remaining papers in Switzerland are "very crucial documents for making
a foolproof case on the Bofors," the CBI spokesperson told Rediff On The NeT on Saturday.
Since the evidence available from the first set of documents
is incomplete, he said it has led to considerable delay in the prosecution
of the accused in the Bofors scandal.
The CBI's Special Investigation Team -- which scrutinised the earlier lot of bank
documents during the tenure of then agency director Joginder Singh --
had identified five alleged recipients of the multi-million
dollar Bofors payoffs -- Italian businessman Ottavio
Quattrocchi and his wife Maria, former Bofors agent Win Chadha,
his son Harsh and late wife Kanta.
The SIT report also indicted Rajiv Gandhi,
on the ground that he had an intimate association
with Quattrocchi and allowed the Italian free
access to the Prime Minister's Office.
The investigating agency has already questioned a number
of politicians, former army generals and key Rajiv aides
to find out who influenced the then prime minister to sign the defence
contract with A B Bofors of Sweden.
After submitting the report to the government, the CBI had sought
sanction for prosecuting former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar
and Gopi Arora, former special secretary in the PMO, in connection
with the Bofors case. But the government has not yet approved their
prosecution, on the ground that the CBI cannot build up a strong case
with the available evidence.
CBI sleuths believe the second set of papers will
help them build a foolproof case to begin prosecution of the Bofors accused. They expect the remaining
papers will also identify the appellants who
are blocking the transfer of documents in the Swiss courts.
Meanwhile, the Union law ministry has sat on the SIT
report for the past two months, without issuing any directions
to the CBI on its future course of action.
A three-member committee of secretaries of the ministries of defence,
home and personnel had earlier screened the SIT report and submitted
it to the law ministry for its expert opinion.
Sources said the law ministry is proceeding on the Bofors report
very cautiously as the government does not want the CBI findings
to be rejected in court as it happened with the Jain hawala
case.
EARLIER REPORTS:
The Smoking Gun
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