New Delhi, March 4 (PTI): A Delhi court on Friday allowed a CBI plea seeking withdrawal of prosecution against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the two-decade-old Bofors payoff case. “The application of the CBI is allowed,” Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav said. “If the logical conclusion of a case is not possible then it is better to leave the issue,” he said. How long we will spend through our nose the hard-earned money of the aam aadmi” in pursuing the case, the judge said while referring to the amount of over Rs 200 crore already spent in the investigations.
The CMM while passing the order said that the CBI did not go into the merits of the case while advocate Ajay Agrawal opposed CBI’s plea on merits. Regarding the locus standi of Mr. Agrawal in this case, the CMM said, he “doesn’t have any locus standi in this case.” The CMM said that he had also gone into the aspect of larger public interest as raised by Mr. Agrawal. Mr. Agrawal, however, said that he will appeal against the order of the court. 70-year-old Quattrocchi “cannot have special privilege because of his closeness to late Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi,” he alleged.
The CMM noted that the heavy amount of money “wasted” on the investigation into this case was on his mind while writing the judgement. Mr. Quattrocchi has never appeared before any court in India. The CBI had in October 2009 sought permission of the court to withdraw the case against Mr. Quattrocchi, saying his continued prosecution was “unjustified” in the light of various factors including the agency’s failed attempts to get him extradited — first from Malaysia in 2003 and then from Argentina in 2007. A charge sheet was filed against Mr. Quattrocchi for allegedly receiving a payoff for brokering the Bofors gun deal.
The CBI had registered a criminal case on January 20, 1990 to probe who were the beneficiaries of the payoffs in the 1986 Bofors gun deal. After completing its probe, the investigative agency had filed two charge sheets in the case — first on October 22, 1999 and the other on October 9, 2000. The CBI had contended that there was no change in the government’s stand on withdrawing the case against Quattrocchi in the wake of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order, which had said that kickbacks of Rs 61 crore were paid to the late Win Chaddha and Mr. Quattrocchi in the howitzer deal.
The CMM while passing the order said that the CBI did not go into the merits of the case while advocate Ajay Agrawal opposed CBI’s plea on merits. Regarding the locus standi of Mr. Agrawal in this case, the CMM said, he “doesn’t have any locus standi in this case.” The CMM said that he had also gone into the aspect of larger public interest as raised by Mr. Agrawal. Mr. Agrawal, however, said that he will appeal against the order of the court. 70-year-old Quattrocchi “cannot have special privilege because of his closeness to late Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi,” he alleged.
The CMM noted that the heavy amount of money “wasted” on the investigation into this case was on his mind while writing the judgement. Mr. Quattrocchi has never appeared before any court in India. The CBI had in October 2009 sought permission of the court to withdraw the case against Mr. Quattrocchi, saying his continued prosecution was “unjustified” in the light of various factors including the agency’s failed attempts to get him extradited — first from Malaysia in 2003 and then from Argentina in 2007. A charge sheet was filed against Mr. Quattrocchi for allegedly receiving a payoff for brokering the Bofors gun deal.
The CBI had registered a criminal case on January 20, 1990 to probe who were the beneficiaries of the payoffs in the 1986 Bofors gun deal. After completing its probe, the investigative agency had filed two charge sheets in the case — first on October 22, 1999 and the other on October 9, 2000. The CBI had contended that there was no change in the government’s stand on withdrawing the case against Quattrocchi in the wake of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order, which had said that kickbacks of Rs 61 crore were paid to the late Win Chaddha and Mr. Quattrocchi in the howitzer deal.
