New Delhi: Argentinian government on Saturday appointed Lilian Delgado as a new lawyer to plead CBI's case for extradition of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
Delgado was appointed counsel for pleading India's case in place of Carlos Daneri because of jurisdictional issues.
Indian Ambassador to Argentina Pramatesh Rath said that the new woman lawyer hails from Misiones province where the extradition proceedings may take place.
Earlier report suggested that, Daneri, who speaks only Spanish, is not comfortable with English and was not fully conversant with Quattrocchi case details.
Quattrocchi's Argentinian lawyer Alejandro Freeland, who claimed that both he and his client are "confounded" at the turn of events that resulted in the Bofors-accused's arrest in Argentina, told PTI that he has not been contacted by the CBI, nor had access to the papers that have been supplied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Buenos Aires.
He, however, has been researching past precedents in cases involving the Bofors arms deal and believes that "there is significant evidence that the case being brought against Quattrocchi is based on fictitious events, this view being supported by a judge in the New Delhi High Court in rulings in 2004 and 2005 during the Hindujas brothers' Bofors trial."
"It is likely that these cases, and the failed Malaysian extradition attempt will form the basis of Quattrocchi's defence should the case proceed to a hearing," he said.
According to Freeland, Quattrocchi was a resident "in India until 1993, seven years after the Bofors disposal, and was never questioned or approached by the CBI during this time.
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