New Delhi: It’s a case of perfect contradiction. A battle of words has ensued between the UPA Government and the CBI over the investigations in the controversial Bofors pay-offs case.
Reacting to Law Minister H R Bhardwaj’s statement that the investigative agency had no proof against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, CBI has said it will make sure that all efforts are made to extradite him from Italy.
Sources in the investigative agency also said that the charges of cheating and conspiracy against Quattrocchi stood in the court of law since there is an Interpol notice against him.
"Quattrocchi is wanted by the CBI for the case of cheating and criminal conspiracy for which a chargesheet has already been filed in a designated court here," a CBI spokesman said.
The CBI had chargesheeted various people, including Hinduja brothers, in the Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case.
However, the Hindujas appeared before the court and were finally discharged by the Delhi High Court last year.
Quattrocchi has played a 'hide-and-seek' game and managed to remain elusive from the trial, prompting the investigating agency to issue an Interpol Red Corner notice against him.
After CNN-IBN exposed that the the UPA Government had directed London courts to de-freeze the bank accounts containing three million Euros and $1 mn of the Italian middleman, CBI sources said the move would not affect the payoff case and every attempt will be made to extradite him from Italy.
They also said that the decision to tell the British authorities that there was no evidence to link him to the Bofors payyoff case was taken in November 2005.
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