New Delhi, June 1
The BJP today took exception to the judgement of the Delhi High Court quashing charges against Europe-based Hinduja brothers saying that it was a “glaring example of judicial burial of a corruption case” and alleged that it had been catalysed by “collusion” between the “powerful accused” and the CBI “pressurised” by the political executive.
BJP spokesman and former Law Minister Arun Jaitley contended at a press conference that the CBI had been “pressurised” by successive Congress governments to “sabotage the investigation” in the high-profile case.
“This is not a judgement on merits. It does not hold that kickbacks were not paid. It proceeds on a mere premise that documents proving bribery and kickbacks were contained in certified copies,” he alleged.
Saying that the reasoning contained in the judgement is “questionable”, Mr Jaitley said it was a glaring example of a judicial burial of a corruption case, which had shaken the conscience of the entire nation.”
He said the ruling was “an unfortunate end catalysed by collusion between an investigative agency, pressurised by the political executive, and the powerful accused in the case.”
Questioning the judgement stating that the government spent Rs 250 crore on Bofors investigation, Mr Jaitley said it was not based on fact or a calculated figure in the government. It was necessary to know how this gossip figured in the judgement, he said.
“My own information is that the money spent on investigation was a fraction of the figure mentioned, Mr Jaitley said.
Alleging that the CBI was pressurised to sabotage investigation by
successive Congress governments, Mr Jaitley said former External Affairs Minister Madhav Sinh Solanki even sent a note to the Swiss authorities that the government desired to close the case.
Mr Ottavio Quattrocchi, the main beneficiary and close to powers, was allowed to escape from the country.
It was time for the CBI to state if it was preferring an appeal against the judgement, he said.
Mr Jaitley said excepting two periods — 1989-90 and 1998-2004, in the case, the governments actively attempted to help the accused and there were at least five judicial pronouncements that enabled the scuttling of the case.
The BJP leader said there was clear collusion between the CBI and the accused in Bofors as well as the high-profile case involving former Petroleum Minister Satish Sharma’s case where the government preferred not to appeal against the erroneous judgement of the Delhi High Court in February 2004.
The inevitable consequence would be that the other accused in the case would be discharged because the UPA government decided not to appeal against the judgement, he pointed out.
