Two days after he left for Italy, the Malaysian court of appeals on Monday asked businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, one of the prime accused in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case, to deposit his passport with the authorities.
Hearing a petition challenging the Kuala Lumpur high court order rejecting the case for Quattrocchi's extradition, Justice Hamid Mohammed asked him to deposit his passport pending disposal of the plea.
When reached on his mobile phone for a reaction to the development, Quattrocchi told the Press Trust of India that he had left Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, a day after the high court dismissed the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea, and was now in Italy.
"I thought everything was over in Kuala Lumpur. I left on Saturday because my daughter wanted to meet me. I will return as per my plan," he said.
His office and lawyers in Kuala Lumpur also said Quattrocchi had left for Italy on Saturday.
The CBI went to the court of appeals, Malaysia's highest court, after the high court on Friday turned down its plea to review the sessions court verdict throwing out the extradition case, saying "the offences of (cheating and corruption) alleged to have been committed by Quattrocchi in India are open to doubt".
India, which filed the appeal through the Malaysian attorney general, has contended that the high court and sessions court passed their orders without properly hearing the case.
While discharging Quattrocchi unconditionally, the sessions court on December 2 had also ordered the return of his passport and bail.
The high court said the Indian side had failed to establish if the crimes Quattrocchi is accused of in New Delhi constitute an offence under Malaysian law.
But the CBI said the case against Quattrocchi was summarily dismissed by the high court and it was "distressed and disturbed to see the manner in which the the judgment was pronounced".
In its petition, India has also sought the court's permission to allow its own lawyer to argue the case.