M A I N   N E W S

Posers to Sonia on Quattrochhi
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Dec 21 — In an effort to establish Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi’s link with Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochhi, a prime accused in the multi-crore Bofors pay-off case, the Bharatiya Janata Party today raised several questions challenging her to dispute that Mr Quattrochhi was “her gift to this country”.

“But the most important question is why Mrs Gandhi is silent on the issue? Can she dispute that Mr Quattrochhi was her gift to this country? Is it not true that Mr Quattrochhi shifted his base to India after Mrs Sonia Gandhi came here? Was she not the source of power from where Mr Quattrochhi derived his influence?” the BJP spokesman, Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra, said in a written statement. The nation demands an explanation from her on all these questions, the spokesman said.

Stating that the arrest and release on bail of Mr Quattrochhi pending extradition proceedings in the Bofors bribery case by the Malaysian authorities was a significant development, Professor Malhotra said, “it is undisputable that Noble Industries paid kickbacks in Swiss bank accounts”.

“The commercial decision to favour Bofors was taken by the government headed by the late Rajiv Gandhi. Obviously, the kickbacks could not have been paid only to that third party which could have influenced the choice of Bofors. The Swiss bank accounts indicate Mr Quattrochhi as one of the beneficiaries in whose account the monies have been paid,” Professor Malhotra said.

“Why were the kickbacks in the Swiss bank where the money was paid the account of one of the closest friends of the Gandhi family, Mr Quattrochhi?” the spokesman asked.

Did this Italian businessman use his influence to swing the deal in favour of Bofors and on whose behalf he was holding the money, Professor Malhotra asked. He added that this was significant because his employers, Snamprogretti, could not have acted on behalf of that company.

He said that the CBI was informed by the Swiss authorities in 1993 that Mr Quattrochhi was one of the beneficiaries of the account in which the kick-back amount was paid.

But why did the then government headed by Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao not take immediate steps to impound the passport of Mr Quattrochhi and arrest him, Professor Malhotra asked. “Instead, it colluded with him in order to enable his escape from the country to Malaysia,” he pointed out.