New Delhi, December 13
Shocked and distressed over the Malaysian High Court’s rejection of the Indian request for the extradition of Italian businessman and prime accused in the Bofors case, Ottavio Quattrochhi, the CBI has filed an appeal against it in the Court of Appeals, Kuala Lumpur, which is equivalent to India’s Supreme Court.
Expressing “shock” and “surprise” over the rejection, CBI Director P.C. Sharma told reporters that the Indian case for the extradition of Quattrochhi was not given a “fair chance” and thus an appeal on behalf of India had been filed by the Malaysian Attorney-General’s office soon after the high court verdict.
“We have also requested them to allow CBI counsel Cyrus Das, a noted Malaysian lawyer, to argue the case in the Court of Appeals,” Mr Sharma said.
The CBI Director said the agency was “distressed and disturbed to see the manner in which a summary judgement was pronounced without hearing our viewpoint” and added “the tenor in which the proceedings began, we were not surprised.”
Maintaining that neither the CBI nor the Attorney-General’s office in Malaysia was given a “fair chance” to represent the case, Mr Sharma said “we were even denied the right of having a counsel, which is permitted under the Malaysian Extradition Act.”
The CBI Director said Section 41 of the Malaysian Extradition Act permitted “the requesting country to hire a counsel for argument in the courts after obtaining permission from the Attorney-General’s office.”
“Keeping that in view, we did it and hired Mr Cyrus Das. But to our surprise, he was not allowed to participate in the court proceedings,” Mr Sharma said.
Making it clear that India held the Malaysian judiciary
in high regard, Mr Sharma said “however, here we were deprived of a fair chance and the judgement was pronounced without complete hearing.”
Commenting on the Malaysian High Court order that charges were yet to be framed against Quattrochhi, Mr Sharma said “the charge sheet against him had been filed in 1999 of which the Indian Court has taken cognisance. The charges against him could be framed only when he is brought here.”
He said the CBI had handed over every oral, written and circumstantial evidence against Quattrochhi to Malaysia and beyond this they could only explain to the courts about his relevance in the case.
Asked to comment on a statement of Quattrochhi’s lawyer that they would be challenging the red corner notice issued by Interpol, he said “it won’t be easy for them at all as it could only be withdrawn by the Interpol Headquarters in Lions... Here we will come into picture and will be able to present our case.”
Mr Sharma denied any knowledge when asked to comment about a report that the Italian Prime Minister had intervened in the issue.
Asked whether any diplomatic pressure was being built up by New Delhi, he said “our
Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur has been following the case very keenly and we will make our request forcefully.”
