Bofors scam: CBI sends judicial request to US, seeks information from investigator

A source said the process to send the LR was initiated on October 14 last year, and it was sent in February after approval from the court concerned. The CBI has also informed the special court hearing the agency’s plea for further probe into the alleged bribery case about the recent developments.

On March 18, 1986, India signed a Rs 1,437 crore deal with Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155 mm Howitzer guns for the Army. A year later, on April 16, 1987, a Swedish radio channel alleged that the company had bribed top Indian politicians and defence personnel to secure the contract.

The scandal rocked the Rajiv Gandhi-led government in the late 1980s. On January 22, 1990, the CBI lodged an FIR against the then Bofors president Martin Ardbo, alleged middleman Win Chadda, and the Hinduja brothers for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.

It was alleged that certain public servants and private people in India and abroad had entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1982 and 1987 in pursuance of which the offences of bribery, corruption, cheating and forgery were committed.

The first chargesheet in the case was filed on October 22, 1999, against Chadda, Ottavio Quattrocchi, the then defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Ardbo and the Bofors company. A supplementary chargesheet was filed against the Hinduja brothers on October 9, 2000.

On May 31, 2005, Justice (retired) R S Sodhi of the Delhi High Court had quashed the CBI case in the Bofors pay-off scam. Before that, Justice (retired) J D Kapoor, had on February 4, 2004, exonerated Gandhi in the case and directed the framing of charge of forgery under Section 465 of the Indian Penal Code against Bofors company.

On March 4, 2011, a special CBI court in Delhi had discharged Quattrocchi from the case saying the country could not afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which had already cost Rs 250 crore. Quattrocchi, who had fled India on July 29-30, 1993, never appeared before any court in India to face prosecution. He passed away on July 13, 2013. Bhatnagar, Chadda and Ardbo were the other accused who died.

The CBI appealed against the 2005 decision in the Supreme Court in 2018 but the plea was dismissed on the grounds of delay. The Supreme Court, however, allowed it to raise all the points in an appeal filed by advocate Ajay Aggarwal in 2005.

Hershman, head of the Fairfax Group, visited India in 2017 to attend a conference of private detectives. During his stay, he appeared on various platforms, alleging that the investigation into the scam was derailed by the Congress government and stated he was willing to share details with the CBI. The agency took note of his claims in several interviews and announced in 2017 that the matter would be investigated according to due process.

Earlier, the CBI had informed the special court that following Hershman’s revelations, it plans to reopen the investigation. The agency had previously also sent letters and reminders to US authorities on November 8, 2023, December 21, 2023, May 13, 2024, and August 14, 2024, but received no information, with the US authorities requesting additional time.