NEW DELHI, January 21: The Central Bureau of Investigation has sought fresh information from authorities in Switzerland and Germany as part of its ongoing probe into the alleged kickbacks paid in the Rs 420-crore HDW submarine deal, the Delhi High Court was informed today.Letters rogatory in this regard were issued by special judge Ajit Bharihoke yesterday on an application by the CBI, additional solicitor general K N Bhat and senior government counsel Rakesh Tiku told the court.The CBI was given permission by the government to file an application for sending of letters rogatory after almost a year.``A proposal was sent to the government on April 8, 1997 for obtaining the requisite undertaking/clearance from the government, which is a pre-requisite under the laws of both Switzerland and Germany. A reminder dated December 12 last has again been sent for expediting the same, which is pending with the government,'' the investigating agency had told the High Court.A division bench of the court comprising acting Chief Justice Mahinder Narain and Justice S K Mahajan asked the CBI about the provision in German tax laws regarding commissions paid abroad for clinching contracts.The CBI on March 5, 1990 had registered a corruption case against former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, his deputy S S Sidhu, former vice-chief of naval staff Vice-Admiral M R Schunker, former director (Submarine Arms and OSD/SSK) Captain M Kondath, former additional financial advisor in the Defence Ministry B Ramaswamy and Gopi Chand Hinduja.To the earlier letter rogatory issued in 1990, the CBI received a reply from Germany in 1993 saying they ``have not found any clue regarding criminal offence against any German national and had, therefore, closed the request made through letter rogatory''.``The German authorities also intimated that no inquiry could be conducted against the concerned companies and they were not prepared to give any information voluntarily claiming business secrecy,'' the CBI said.However, the bench told the additional solicitor general that it was perfectly legal in these countries to pay commission and hence it was to be found from tax returns of these companies as to how much money was paid as kickbacks and to whom.
