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CBI files chargesheet in Bofors case

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed its chargesheet in the Bofors case.

The chargesheet was filed before Special Jugde Ajit Bharihoke at the CBI court at Teez Hazari. The five accused are former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Win Chadha (former Bofors agent in India), controversial Italian businessman Otavio Quattrocchi, former A B Bofors president Martin Adbo and the A B Bofors company.

The name of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi figures in the chargesheet in Column II [relating to a dead person] with the remark ''not sent up for trial.''

Former external affairs minister Madavsinh Solanki has not been chargesheeted.

While Quattrocchi resides in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, Chadha is living in Dubai and is reported to have acquired the citizenship of Belize.

The CBI had earlier stated that it would file a separate chargesheet against Madhavsinh Solanki who had delivered a letter to the Swiss authorities allegedly asking them to go slow on the investigations into the secret Swiss bank accounts in which the alleged bribe of Rs 640 million was deposited.

The five accused have been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act under Section 120-B IPC (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 IPC and 5 (2) read with 5 (1) (e).

According to the chargesheet, investigations had revealed several acts of omission and commission by the accused which prove that they were party to a criminal conspiracy with some others during 1985 to '87.

The conspiracy was aimed at awarding a government contract to A B Bofors of Sweden for the purchase of 400 pieces of the 155 mm FH 77 B gun system by public servants who abused their official positions for causing wrongful gain to private persons and corresponding loss to the country.

Investigations revealed that huge funds were disbursed by A B Bofors to Win Chadha and Quattrocchi in their Swiss bank accounts in contravention of the clear understanding between the government of India and A B Bofors that there would be no agents, the chargesheet said.

A B Bofors paid an amount equivalent to 27 million United States dollars during the period April 1986-March 1987 in the name of M/s Svenska Inc, Panama, in connection with the gun deal. This was found to have been credited to the personal account of Win Chadha in Swiss Bank Corporation, Geneva.

According to the chargesheet, another amount of 7.3 million dollars was paid by A B Bofors to M/s A E Services Limited, UK. About 97 per cent of this amount was transferred to the account of Colbar Investments Limited, Panama, controlled by Quattrocchi in the Union Bank of Switzerland, Geneva.

It has also been found that Chadha and Quattrocchi have been transferring the funds from one account to another and from one jurisdiction to another to avoid detection.

The CBI has submitted 213 documents running into 2,500 pages and the statements of 83 witnesses in support of the chargesheet.

Efforts were being made to seek the deportation or extradition of Quattrocchi, Chadha and Ardbo, the bureau said.

Further investigation is on through several letters rogatory sent to Switzerland, Sweden, Panama, Luxembourg, Bahamas, Jordan, Liechtenstein and Austria to probe the role of several other persons, including G P Hinduja, Prakash Hinduja, Srichand Hinduja, Hersh Chadha and Maria Quattrocchi.

Meanwhile, Kapil Sibal, the Congress spokesman, said that since he has not seen the chargesheet he was not in a position to comment on it at the moment. "Since Rajiv Gandhi is dead they are bound to put his name in Column II. I would make a full comment on it on Monday," he told rediff.com.

Former CBI director Joginder Singh who sent in the final report on the case on May 12, 1997 to the government of India for further action told rediff.com in an informal conversation that he was personally satisfied that the case has reached its logical conclusion at last.

"I have done my bit in this case. I am happy that the case which began in 1990 has eventually come to an end and it is curtains down on one of the most controversial cases ever handled by the organisation in recent times," he said.

When asked as to why the name of Rajiv Gandhi was included in the list of the accused but not sent up for the trail, the former CBI chief said that under the provisions of the law no action is required against a dead person.

But did the CBI carry out an investigation against him and did the name of the former prime minister figure in the alleged kickbacks of Rs 660 million in the purchase of the Bofors guns? Joginder Singh, refused to divulge any detail in this respect on the plea that it would amount to a breach of trust.

The Bofors case came to light when the former defence minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government V P Singh came to know of massive kickbacks in the purchase of the Bofors gun. The opposition parties seized the opportunity to attack the Rajiv Gandhi government and forced the reluctant prime minister to appoint a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the allegations. The furore eventually culminated in the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government in the 1989 elections.

Bhure Lal, the cabinet secretary under the National Front Government headed by V P Singh, Arun Jaitley, then the additional solicitor general, and M K Madhavan, deputy inspector general of the CBI, visited Switzerland in 1990 to persuade the Swiss government to help the government of India to unravel the case.

The first information report in the Bofors case was filed on January 22,1990 and since then several officers of the organisation have been involved in the investigation of the case. According to insiders more then Rs 15 million was spent by the agency for various trips abroad.

With additional reportage by UNI

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