CBI accuses Rajiv Gandhi in Bofors chargesheet

George Iype in Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation's much-awaited report on the controversial Bofors case has listed former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as accused number 15 in the multi-million dollar gun purchase scandal. The report, however, has failed to prove any corruption charges against the late Congress leader.

Legal experts say the CBI's chargesheet against Gandhi will not entangle his widow Sonia Gandhi and children in court cases. Though Gandhi cannot be prosecuted for keeping the Bofors deal under wraps as he was assassinated in May 1991, the CBI charges will certainly cause acute embarrassment to Sonia, who recently joined the Congress party.

CBI sources said Gandhi's name was listed in the Bofors report as he was "a vital link to seek the prosecution" of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. The late prime minister has been accused of hatching a conspiracy to cause willful loss to the state exchequer by allowing Quattrocchi and Bofors middleman Win Chadha to strike the defence deal with A B Bofors of Sweden.

While Quattrocchi, who was a close friend of the Gandhi family, allegedly received Rs 90 million, Chadha pocketed Rs 200 million for striking the defence deal with the Indian government and the Swedish arms manufacturer.

CBI Director Joginder Singh submitted the Bofors report to the government on Monday. Running into 300-hundred pages, the report contains statements of 42 witnesses and suspects involved in the Rs 64 million howitzer gun deal.

Among those examined by the CBI included former Union ministers Arun Singh and Arun Nehru, former army chief General K Sundarji and former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar.

The CBI chargesheet is based on two sets of secret bank documents received by the Indian authorities from the Swiss government in January. Besides Gandhi, it has named former federal minister Madhavsinh Solanki, former special secretary to Gandhi, Gopi Arora, Bhatnagar, Quattrocchi and wife Maria, Win Chadha, his late wife Kanta and son Harsh Chadha as the main accused.

While the government is yet to examine the CBI report before giving orders for the prosecution of the accused, the Congress has begun pressurising Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral to put the report under hold.

Congress president Sitaram Kesri met Law Minister Ramakant Khalap twice in the past two days to seek the legal posture that the government is planning to take on the report.

Kesri's political advisor Tariq Anwar told Rediff On The NeT that the CBI is dragging Rajiv Gandhi's name into the Bofors report "without any substantive evidence."

"The CBI report does not hold Gandhi of taking any bribe. Therefore, including Gandhi's name in the Bofors report is a politically motivated decision by the CBI," he said. Adding further he said that the CBI machinations will not affect the image of the Congress.

Many believe the fear of a Congress revolt against the government may force Gujral to either ask the CBI to go slow on the Bofors prosecution or ask for more clinching evidence against Rajiv Gandhi.

The CBI report is said to be fraught with loose ends because it has failed to establish that bribes were paid to any Indian government official. CBI sources said the agency's report is not "final" as more disclosures are expected from the third set of bank documents expected from the Swiss government shortly.

The agency recently sent letters rogatories to a number of tax havens like Panama, Channel Island, Isle of Man and Leichinstein, where the payoffs had travelled from the coded Swiss bank accounts. But it has not yet received any responses from these countries.

In his hurry to submit the report to the government, the CBI director did not wait for the defence ministry's permission to declassify some 15 defence files which he had demanded three weeks back.

Singh is scheduled to retire in October. But he fears that he will be unceremoniously removed by the Gujral government because of his preoccupation with politically sensitive cases like Bofors and the Bihar fodder scam.