Congress alleges political conspiracy in Bofors disclosures

The Congress has described as a political conspiracy the efforts to link Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi with the Congress and the Rajiv Gandhi family in the alleged pay-offs in the Bofors gun deal.

Emphatically denying that Quattrocchi had anything to do with the Congress or the Rajiv Gandhi family, Congress spokesman V N Gadgil said the old classical technique of rumours, whispers and disinformation had been revived for linking the accused Italian with the Congress.

''We are confident that the common people will not be misled by this politically motivated campaign,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the prompt reactions of the Swedish arms manufacturer, A B Bofors, and the alleged recipients of the Rs 640 million kickbacks in the controversial howitzer gun deal to the CBI's disclosures on Tuesday may stunt the progress of the investigation.

While Bofors has stuck to its guns stating that the money paid to the Quattrocchis and the Win Chadhas, who were named as recipients of the kickbacks by the CBI, was not meant to be a bribe for clinching the Rs 14 billion contract, the accused have taken a similar stand.

A Bofors official in Stockholm said the money paid to its former agent in India Win Chadha and Snam Progetti's former chief representative in this country Quattrocchi related to severence of their contracts with the arms manufacturer.

This had become necessary in the light of a provision, incorporated in the contract with the Indian government for supply of 410 howitzers, that there would be no middlemen in the contract.

This point was also made in Parliament in a statement in 1987 by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in the wake of vague allegations that kickbacks were involved in the deal.

Rajiv Gandhi had then stated that the agreement did not provide for any middlemen.

Chadha, who was named as one of the beneficiaries of the kickbacks, reacted within a few hours of the disclosure by the CBI that he had never received any bribes in his life, not to speak of just from Bofors.

Quattrocchi, who left India on July 29, 1993 following the disclosure by Swiss authorities that he was an appellant in a case opposing the disclosure of Swiss banking transactions, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, within hours of the CBI disclosure, that ''all this was just a story.''

While Chadha said he was prepared to be questioned in Dubai by the CBI, Quattrocchi preferred to remain silent about co-operating with the agency.

CBI sources said on Thursday that the agency had decided to approach Additional Sessions Judge Ajit Bharihoke for issuing letter rogatories (letters of request) to secure the deportation of the Quattrocchis and Chadhas to stand trial in the case.

The sources admitted that the ''confrontationist posture'' adopted by the suspects, despite their names figuring as recipients of money from Bofors, would put up hurdles in the way of legal process against them.

A CBI search at Snam Progetti's Delhi offices and the interrogation of Quattrocchi's successor have yielded nothing concrete to strengthen the Bureau's case.

Nor will the statements of four former generals that they had rejected the Bofors gun be of any great help in conclusively establishing that Rs 640 million was paid to middlemen allegedly involved in getting the contract in 1986.

Lt Generals Hriday N Kaul -- former chairman of the army's purchase committee -- K B Mehta, Mayadas -- then director general of the equipment division -- and G R Malhotra -- the then member of the technical evaluation committee and director general of artillery -- told the CBI's special investigation team that they were against the howitzers.

Their statements evoked a caustic reaction from former army chief General Krishnaswamy Sundarji under whose tenure the Bofors agreement was signed.