Bofors case closure totally wrong: Prashant Bhushan
March 4th, 2011 - 8:07 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, March 4 (IANS) Leading lawyer and anti-corruption activist Prashant Bhushan said Friday that the closure of the Bofors kickbacks case was “totally wrong” as there was “clear evidence” of bribes being paid in the deal for Swedish artillery guns for the Indian Army.
“It is totally wrong. There was clear evidence against (Italian businessman) Ottavio Quattrochhi (a family friend of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi) and about the kickbacks paid in the deal,” Bhushan told IANS.
He said the case had made “considerable progress with the accounts in the Swiss banks (being) traced”.
Bhushan said it was a disappointment that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had decided to “scuttle the case despite the hard work done”.
“But today’s decision need not be the final word,” he said. “A public interest litigation can take up the case in higher courts.”
“I hope the investigative agencies and the courts will get to the truth in the Bofors case one day,” he said.
Paving the way for the end of the Rs.640 million Bofors kickbacks case, a Delhi court Friday accepted the CBI’s closure report seeking to drop all charges against Quattrochhi in the over two-decade-old scandal.
- Bofors case: Court accepts CBI closure report, relief for Quattrocchi (Lead) - Mar 04, 2011
- 25 years of India's 'Watergate': The Bofors scandal (Second Lead, superseding previous story) - Apr 25, 2012
- 25 years of India's 'Watergate': The Bofors scandal (Lead) - Apr 25, 2012
- Chronology: Bofors graft row over last 25 years - Apr 25, 2012
- Bofors case: Court accepts CBI closure report - Mar 04, 2011
- Quattrocchi: A 'fugitive' who will now walk free in India - Mar 04, 2011
- Fresh attempt to stop CBI from closing Bofors case - Feb 19, 2011
- The scandal that shook India two decades ago (Bofors Chronology) - Mar 04, 2011
- What Lindstrom said on key players in Bofors scam - Apr 25, 2012
- Court allows closure of Bofors case, relief for Quattrocchi (Second Lead) - Mar 04, 2011
- Court order or not, Indian Army still grapples with Bofors ghost - Mar 04, 2011
- Closure report end of matter in Bofors case: Congress - Mar 04, 2011
- Delhi court to decide on CBI's closure report in Bofors case - Jan 04, 2011
- Bofors deal: Decision on dropping Quattrocchi cases Feb 21 - Feb 10, 2011
- Chronology of Bofors scandal - Jan 03, 2011
Tags: artillery guns, bofors case, bribes, case closure, cbi, central bureau of investigation, clear evidence, closure report, delhi court, family friend, final word, indian army, investigative agencies, italian businessman, kickbacks, New Delhi, paving the way, public interest litigation, rajiv gandhi, swiss banks