New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Speaking for the first time on Bofors payoff suspect Ottavio Quattrocchi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the case itself had proved an “embarrassment” for the government.
“The Quattrocchi case is an embarrassment for the government of India. We have tried to extradite him from Malaysia. We have tried to extradite him from Argentina. We have failed. The court says we do not have a strong case,” Manmohan Singh told CNN-IBN in an interview.

He said the case did not show the Indian legal system in good light.

“It’s not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people while the world says we have no case. The Interpol had asked the government of India that why do you want to treat him under the Red Corner Notice.”

“Therefore the matter was referred to the law ministry and then to the Attorney General, who gave the advice that there is no case for keeping the Red Corner Notice. Even (then) the issue is now before the court,” he added.

In November 2008, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the advice of the Attorney General removed Quattrocchi’s name from the look-out notices issued by Interpol. The revelation earlier this week created a big furore with the opposition slamming the government, accusing it of trying to hush up the case.

Quattrocchi, accused by the CBI of receiving millions of dollars in commissions for helping to fix the $1.4 billion gun deal in the mid-1980s, was detained in February 2007 in Argentina on the basis of an Interpol warrant, while he was holidaying with his wife.