"We want the prime minister to explain the delay in informing the country about the arrest of Quattrocchi, who was detained on Feburary 6," Malhotra said.
A Delhi court on Saturday deferred till May 15 pronouncement of its order on a plea of a lawyer objecting to CBI's move to withdraw the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
The PIL has been filed on behalf of the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha.
Jaitley accuses Bharadwaj of interfering in criminal proceedings against Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors case. \n
The Congress on Wednesday justified the withdrawal of case against prime accused Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors issue and accused the opposition parties of "flogging a dead horse" over it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday contended before a Delhi court that there is no change in government's stand on withdrawing the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the wake of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order in the Bofors pay-offs case.
The Central Information Commission has taken serious note of the government withholding information on the expenses incurred in the investigation of the Bofors pay off case.
The court asked the agency to file the next status report in the matter on July 28.
The bench refused to dispose off the contempt petition filed by advocate Ajay Aggarwal against CBI director Vijay Shanker and another officer on the matter.
"It is unfortunate. I cannot react to the media reports," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said when asked about CBI's affidavit in the Supreme Court on the issue.
Even in the absence of a formal extradition treaty with Italy, where Quattrocchi is believed to be living, CBI would take all possible efforts through legal and diplomatic channels to obtain his presence to face trial in the Bofors case.
Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that despite the best efforts of the investigative agency it has failed to get the translated order.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday opposed the plea of an advocate opposing withdrawal of the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in a Delhi court, saying a private party has no locus standi in it.
"It is a good step though taken rather late. The opposition has been bringing out the phantom of Bofors from the cupboard and slaying it again and again for the last 23 years," party spokesperson Manish Tewari said.
It is shocking that CBI Director Vijay Shanker claimed that the agency was unaware of the government's decision to withdraw an appeal in the Argentinian court for Quattrocchi's extradition, Shourie said.
India will be represented by Lilian Delgado, a prosecutor given by the Argentine government, during the extradition trial, while extradition expert Alejandro Freeland will be defending Quattrocchi.
Indian Ambassador Pramathesh Rath said the CBI team, which was currently in El Dorado city, has appointed a lawyer who would assist the public prosecutor given by the Argentinean government to plead CBI's before the judge there.
The paperwork is expected to be completed on Monday and Tuesday.
However, some other sources said the date of the hearing may be put off as it clashed with the schedule of CBI's lawyer Miguel Almeyra.
The CBI has drawn a parallel between the Bofors case and the popular cartoon show -- Tom and Jerry -- and is hopeful that 'Tom' will one day catch 'Jerry'.
Sarma said the defamation case will be filed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Guwahati on April 14.
The CBI has sent a Letters Rogatory requesting freezing of Rs 21 crore in the name of Ottavio Quattrocchi, the main accused in the Rs 64 crore scam.
'Forget the Veerappans and Quattrocchis: the greatest abusers of our laws are those whom we charge with making and administering them,' says Dilip D'Souza.
'Forget the Veerappans and Quattrocchis: the greatest abusers of our laws are those whom we charge with making and administering them,' says Dilip D'Souza.
This sum, said the CBI, provided for 8.24 per cent commission to accused Hinduja brothers, Win Chadha and Ottavio Quattrocchi.
Quattrocchi lived in India for several years as the representative of an Italian firm, Snam Progetti, in the 1980s. He was close to the Gandhi family and in 1999 was named one of the accused in the case regarding the Rs 64-crore pay-off for the supply of 155 mm Howitzer guns made by Bofors, for which a controversial deal was signed in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.
Training its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Bofors pay-offs scandal, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded that he apologise for defending Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi. "Mr PM, you tried to give a clean chit to Quattrocchi," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters, adding this has been found to be false by an income tax tribunal which said that kickbacks of Rs 41 crore were paid to Quattrocchi and Win Chaddha.
BJP alleged that banks were 'pushed' into giving Rs 3,100 crore loan to him and unfreezing his bank accounts in 2012.
A combative Rahul Gandhi asked how the govt allowed liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who owes over Rs 9,000 crore to banks, to leave the country.
'His record will be clouded by the same negative factors as of Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao, namely, their politics and therefore social policies,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Let the bankers take all steps to recover their money.'
Swaraj tore into the Congress, saying it had helped Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi and Bhopal gas leak accused Warren Anderson flee from India.
After lot of deliberation, the CBI this year got the nod from the NDA government to file an appeal in the apex court.
Why 'anti-Romeo'? Why not 'anti-loafer' squad? Or 'anti-Majnu' squad?' wonders Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to bring back former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi to face the law.
It said it was not convinced with the grounds of the CBI to condone over 4,500 days' delay in filing the appeal. The CBI had filed the appeal on February 2 this year.
The CBI had moved the trial court seeking permission for further probe in the matter saying it had come across fresh material and evidence.
The CBI filed the appeal against the May 31, 2005 decision of the high court by which all accused, including Europe-based industrialists Hinduja brothers, were discharged from the Rs 64-crore pay-off case.
The Congress, which was not a petitioner before the apex court, wants the Rafale deal to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the price arrived at by the BJP government versus the one negotiated by the previous UPA regime, as also how billionaire Anil Ambani's group with virtually no experience in manufacture of fighter jets was selected as an offset partner for the deal.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances