New Delhi, January 04: After an Income Tax tribunal tracked down the money trail in the Bofors scandal, a court in Delhi will decide today on a plea of the CBI seeking to drop criminal proceedings against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, accused in the kickbacks case.
The CBI has said in its plea that continued prosecution of Quattrocchi was “unjustified” in the light of lack of evidence, and hence the failed attempts to extradite him.
However, the lawyer opposing the CBI plea, Ajay Agarwal, claims he has proof that the CBI has a lot of evidence against Quattrocchi but still wants to withdraw the case, and was asked by the court to file his objections today.
But it’s not just Ajay Agarwal that the CBI has to contend with. An Income Tax tribunal in its order issued yesterday, clearly shows how much money Quattrocchi and Win Chadha were paid by Bofors as bribes.
The tribunal order also says that the kickbacks violated rules as middlemen are illegal in defence deals in India, and that Quattrocchi and Chadha are liable to pay income tax on the bribes they got.
It also adds that due to the kickbacks, the deal cost India almost Rs. 160 crore extra.
Quattrocchi, accused of serving as a conduit between the Swedish company and Indian politicians who received kickbacks for the deal, left India in 1993 to avoid being arrested. Chadha died in 2001.
–Agencies