Jan. 4: Even as the CBI insisted for the closure of the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off scam case against the Italian businessman, Mr Ottavio Quattrocchi, a day after the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal held that he had received commission in the Rs 1,437-crore Howitzer gun deal with Swedish arms manufacturer’s Indian agent Win Chaddha, a city court on Tuesday asked the agency’s counsel to apprise it about the government stand on the issue in the way of tribunal’s order.
As the additional solicitor-general, Mr P.P. Malhotra, appearing for the CBI, pressed for the closure of the case against Quattrocchi before the chief metropolitan magistrate, (CMM), Mr Vinod Yadav, on the ground that no evidence could be gathered against him and there was no possibility of his extradition to India, the CMM asked the ASG whether he had got “fresh instructions” from the government in view of Monday’s decision of the ITAT.
The main opposition BJP on Tuesday demanded that the PM should apologise for defending Mr Quattrocchi, saying that findings of the ITAT were to the contrary. The BJP spokesperson, Mr Ravishankar Prasad, said, “His comment exonerating Quattrochi having been found to be false by a competent Tribunal.” He was referring to Dr Singh’s remarks that “It is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people and that Quattrocchi case is an embarrassment for the government of India.”