SC to hear petition against Quattrocchi

New Delhi: The Supreme Court (SC) will hear a petition on Monday in the Bofors case against the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Central Government for allegedly getting the London bank accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi defreezed.

Petitioner Ajay K Aggarwal, an advocate, in his rejoinder has held the investigating agency and the Centre responsible for the defreezing of the controversial account in order to facilitate the withdrawal of the kickbacks.

He also alleged that Quattrocchi had lost the battle for getting his bank accounts defreezed even at the SC of the UK and there was no justification for the CBI to send Additional Solicitor General B Dutta to make a request to Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) on December 22, 2005 to defreeze the accounts of the Italian fugitive staying in Malaysia.

The case had its origin in the Rs 1437 crore deal between India and Swedish arms manufacturer A B Bofors for supply of 400 155mm Howitzer guns to Indian Army signed on March 23,1986.

The CBI had almost reached a deadend in the investigation of the case after spending over Rs 250 crore during almost 16 years of investigation in the scam.

''Interestingly, CBI is still maintaining before the special court that it was trying its best to extradite Quattrocchi to India while telling the apex court that there is no evidence against him,'' the petitioner has contended in his rejoinder.

The petitioner has also questioned the method adopted by the CBI because instead of initiating proceddings against him under section 82 and 83 Cr P C for getting him declared as absconder and attaching his properties, the Government has facilitated the withdrawal of ill-gotten money lying in London bank accounts of the Italian family friend of the Gandhi family.

Even the directions on January 16, 2006 issued by the apex court to the Government to make all efforts to stall the withdrawal of the kickbacks were found infructuous as the money had already been withdrawn and the Crown Prosecution Services informed that freeze order could not be reactivated as the accounts had already been defreezed.