New Delhi: The government on Thursday defended the
decision to withdraw the Bofors pay-off case against Italian
businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi saying there was no
criminality involved.
"There have been cases in foreign courts, domestic
courts, high court...everywhere it has gone. Everyone said
there is no case. The Delhi High Court said there is no case
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. When there is no case
under PCA, where is the criminality involved?" Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily told reporters.
He said if the government wanted to recover the money
which was paid "and if there is evidence of commission...why
was the money fully settled in 1990 itself when there was no
Congress government?"
The minister said that the matter was before the
magistrate's court and that a withdrawal petition has already
been filed.
He said Argentina dismissed India's case at a cost. "They
imposed a cost at filing the case...CBI pursued vigorously all
these years but ultimately there was no result," he said.
On October 3, CBI had filed an application before a Delhi
court seeking closure of the Bofors pay-off case against
Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
The probe agency said all efforts to extradite
Quattrocchi for facing the trial here have failed.
Quattrocchi, the sole surviving accused in the
two-decade-old case after the Delhi High Court quashed the
charges on May 31, 2005 against other accused, has never
appeared before any court in the country.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, October 08, 2009, 23:45