E-Paper
'What's all this about Hinduja brothers, CBI?': SC draws curtain on Bofors case, rejects plea against 2005 acquittal
With Thursday’s dismissal, the last judicial challenge to the 2005 acquittal has come to an end, bringing the Bofors prosecution to its final legal closure.
The Supreme Court on Thursday effectively brought the curtain down on the politically-sensitive Bofors pay-off case by dismissing the only surviving appeal against the 2005 Delhi High Court judgment that quashed all criminal proceedings against the three Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors.
A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran declined to grant any further time to advocate and BJP leader Ajay K Agrawal, who had challenged the high court verdict, observing that it was not inclined to adjourn a matter that had remained pending since 2018 only on the question how a private individual’s appeal could survive after the investigating agency’s own challenge had already been dismissed.
Also Read | SC to examine plea for CBI probe into alleged breach of 1.5 lakh medical records
Scandal that rocked Rajiv Gandhi government
The order effectively seals the fate of one of India’s longest-running corruption cases, nearly four decades after allegations surfaced that kickbacks were paid in the ₹1,437-crore Bofors gun deal.
The scandal rocked the Rajiv Gandhi government, severely dented his clean image, dominated the 1989 general election campaign and is widely regarded as one of the factors that contributed to the Congress losing power that year.
Also Read | SC agrees to examine Madras HC order on Karthigai Deepam near dargah
What happened in court
At the outset of Thursday’s hearing, Agrawal, appearing virtually in person, sought four weeks’ time to delete the names of two deceased respondents, Srichand P Hinduja and Gopichand P Hinduja, from the array of parties. The other respondents in the case included Prakash P Hinduja, who is currently the chairman of Hinduja Group in Europe.
The bench, however, appeared unconvinced about continuing with the proceedings. “What is all this about the Hinduja brothers and CBI?” it asked.
When informed that the Delhi High Court had exonerated the accused by quashing the proceedings, the top court bench remarked: “All proceedings were quashed. What is this? How many years have passed?”
As Agrawal pointed out that the defence deal dated back to 1986 and attempted to explain that CBI’s separate appeal had earlier been dismissed because it was already a respondent in his petition and that the agency were asked to appear in his matter, the bench cut him short.
“No, no...dismissed,” said the bench.
When Agrawal sought to make further submissions, the bench refused to adjourn the matter, observing, “No question of adjournment. It is a 2018 matter,” before dismissing the appeal.
2005 judgment
The dismissal marks the end of the litigation arising out of the high court’s May 31, 2005 judgment, in which Justice RS Sodhi quashed all charges against Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja as well as the Bofors company, while strongly criticising the Central Bureau of Investigation’s handling of the prosecution and observing that the investigation had cost the exchequer nearly ₹250 crore.
The Supreme Court had, in November 2018, refused to entertain CBI’s own appeal against the same high court judgment after finding no satisfactory explanation for the agency’s delay of 4,522 days in approaching the court.
It had then held that the court was “not convinced” with the reasons furnished to condone the extraordinary delay, though it had observed that CBI could advance its contentions in Agrawal’s pending appeal.
The top court had first questioned Agrawal’s locus in January 2018, asking how a private individual could maintain an appeal in a criminal prosecution when the investigating agency itself had not challenged the acquittal.
Also Read | SC upholds life term for serial killer Chandrakant Jha
What is the controversy about?
The controversy traces its origins to the ₹1,437-crore agreement signed on March 24, 1986, between the Government of India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155 mm howitzer guns for the Indian Army.
The scandal erupted after Swedish Radio reported in April 1987, that illegal commissions had been paid to influential Indian politicians and defence officials to secure the contract.
CBI registered an FIR in January 1990 alleging offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption against former Bofors president Martin Ardbo, alleged middleman Win Chadha and the Hinduja brothers.
The central agency later filed charge sheets against several accused, including Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, before adding the Hinduja brothers through a supplementary charge sheet in October 2000.
Over the years, however, the prosecution steadily unravelled. Before Justice Sodhi’s 2005 judgment, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice JD Kapoor, had in February 2004 cleared former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of any criminal culpability in the case while directing that a forgery charge be framed against the Bofors company.
Subsequently, Quattrocchi was discharged by a Delhi trial court in 2011 after repeated efforts to extradite him failed. He died in 2013, while several other accused, including Win Chadha, Martin Ardbo and former defence secretary SK Bhatnagar, also passed away during the prolonged proceedings.
With Thursday’s dismissal of Agrawal’s appeal, the last judicial challenge to the 2005 acquittal has come to an end, bringing the Bofors prosecution to its final legal closure after nearly 40 years.
