The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, January 26, 2001,
Chandigarh, India

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Hindujas deny bribing Mandelson
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 25 — The Hinduja brothers today denied having “bribed” senior Labour Party MP in securing British citizenship.

Talking to newspersons outside the CBI headquarters, S P Hinduja said he did not seek political favours for British citizenship.

“I have not asked anybody to give any favour to me, not even to Mr Peter Mandelson. I had submitted my application as any citizen of a country would do.”

According to reports, the Hinduja brothers had donated one million £ to the Millennium Dome, when Mr Peter Mendelson was in charge of it.

The British MP, Mr Peter Mendelson, who has resigned from the Labour Government in the United Kingdom, however, denied that he had acted “improperly in any way.”

The CBI today questioned Srichand and Prakashchand Hinduja for two and three hours respectively, the CBI spokesperson said today.

He said S.P. Hinduja was called to clarify certain facts. The agency yesterday had stated that they had completed his interrogation. The CBI said today that it had completed the questioning of P.P. Hinduja.

The only Hinduja brother so far not questioned, G.P. Hinduja, has been asked to present before the CBI officials on Sunday for questioning.

The spokesperson said the Hinduja brothers could be called again for questioning, if needed.

The CBI said the questioning was related to the payments received by the Hinduja brothers from A.B. Bofors. While the Hindujas have maintained having received the money from the Swedish arms manufacturers, they have maintained that the 10 million $ were not related to the Bofors’ gun deal.

The CBI spokesperson said the questioning of the Hinduja brothers would continue till January 30, after which the agency would submit a detailed report to the Delhi Court.

The CBI in the charge sheet alleged that the Hinduja brothers had received 81 million Swedish Kroners ($10 million) from Bofors which bagged the Rs 1437 crore gun contract in 1986.

The CBI charge sheet said the 81 million SK was deposited in three accounts in the Credit Suisse Bank, Hanover Manufacturers Trust and Swiss Bank Corporation of which SK 31.98 million was deposited in Swiss Corporation under code name Lotus; SK 37.03 million in Hanover Trust under code name Tulip and SK 11.7 million in Credit Suisse under the code name, Mont Blanc.

JMM case: notices to CBI, Bhajan

NEW DELHI, Jan 25 (UNI) —The high court today issued notices to the CBI and nine accused in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bribery case who were recently acquitted by Additional Sessions Judge Ajit Bharihoke on the basis of the benefit of the doubt.

Among those who have been asked to file their replies by February 5 are: former Union Ministers Satish Sharma and Ajit Singh, former Chief Ministers Bhajan Lal of Haryana and Veerappa Moily of Karnataka, Mr V. Rajeshwar Rao, a relative of Mr Narasimha Rao, Mr H.M. Revenna and Mr Ramalinga Reddy (former Karnataka ministers in the Moily Cabinet) and Bangalore-based liquor barons D.K. Adikeshavalu and M.Thimme Gowda.

Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and his Cabinet colleague were convicted on September 29 last year for criminal conspiracy and corruption when the CBI special court held them guilty in the JMM mps bribery case. The case related to the bribing of opposition MPs to defeat the July 28, 1993, no-confidence motion against the then Congress government headed by Mr Rao.

Though the high court has suspended Mr Rao’s and Mr Ajit Singh’s sentence of three years’ rigorous imprisonment following appeals against the trial court’s order, its decision to issue fresh notices against the acquits comes following a revision petition filed by the Rashtriya Mukti Morcha (RMM) which exposed the JMM scandal.

“The trial court did not appreciate the fact that on trial were not ordinary run-of-the-mill accused persons, they had the state power and apparatus at their disposal and the capacity to cover all imprints of the crime they were committing,” said RMM President Ravinder Kumar.

“The trial court should have taken into account the fact that straight and direct evidence, oral or documentary, would be hard to come by under the circumstances.