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Almost three decades after the controversial Bofors scandal, President Pranab Mukherjee has called it a media trial that could not be proven in any Indian court.
The remarks have come just days before the President goes to Sweden for a visit.
Speaking to Swedish daily Dagens Nyhetter, Mukherjee said on being asked whether the Bofors case had been a media trial: “First of all -- it is yet to be to be established that there was a scandal. No Indian court has established it. I was the defence minister of the country long after Bofors, and all my generals certified that this is one of the best guns we are having. Till today, the Indian Army is using it. The so-called scandal which you talk of, yes, in the media, it was there. There was a media trial. But I’m afraid, let us not be too much carried by publicity.”
The President refused to comment on whether the Bofors scam was only a media scandal, but added, “I do not know. I’m not describing it, you’re putting that word. Don’t put that word. What I am saying is that in media it was publicised. But up to now, no Indian court has given any decisive verdict about the alleged scandal.”
Later, when asked about the quality of the Swedish Bofors guns, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar described them as “good”, but refused to comment on remarks attributed to President Pranab Mukherjee that the controversy surrounding its acquisition was a “media trial”.
“I can only certify that Bofors guns are good. I do not make any statement on president’s statement. If you ask me about quality of Bofors guns, then they are good,” Parrikar said.
The Bofors scandal was a $285 million contract between the Indian government and Swedish arms company Bofors, signed for supply of 155mm howitzer field guns in 1986.
Subsequently, Swedish Radio had alleged that Bofors paid illegal commissions to top Indian politicians and key defence officials to seal the deal. The scandal contributed to the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi in elections three years later.