Please join exit Q

There are several things we don8217;t know about the latest twist 8212; how many have there been! 8212; in the Bofors scandal. We don8217;t know what was known by whom in the government and the Congress leadership, as the long arm of the law ministry reached out to give Ottavio Quattrocchi a helping hand in London. We don8217;t know, at this point, whether Quattrocchi and his money will finally be reunited. We don8217;t know why Quattrocchi said he has contributed to India8217;s industrial development figuring that one out is a challenge for economists. But we do know this 8212; Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj has never denied he lit the fire that may melt Quattrocchi8217;s bank account. And since the Supreme Court has directed that the status quo ante be restored in the matter, what option does that leave the law minister with? True, Bhardwaj saying he8217;s answerable to no one but the prime minister is an improvement on what Natwar Singh was saying before he was made to go. But that comparison itself damns the law minister.

More important, law ministers have to be especially sensitive to direct or implied strictures from courts, those from the highest court in particular. If they choose not to be, a crucial aspect of institutional integrity is lost. This requirement can8217;t be masked by political-administrative manoeuvres 8212; in this case, the CBI suddenly recalling that sending the additional solicitor general to London was absolutely, completely, its own independent, considered decision, and that no minister had anything to do with it. The best that can be said about this is that it fails even the test of amoral politics. If the idea was to deflect responsibility, it should have been done earlier, not after days of Bhardwaj defending the decision and after government leaks describing ministerial involvement.

The bad planning may be a sign of greater official discomfiture than has been admitted. If that is the case, the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi should know that feeling better won8217;t come from doing nothing. To remind them: Ottavio Quattrocchi did run away from Indian law, he is an Interpol 8216;Wanted8217; because of Indian requests and despite the sorry state of the Bofors case at present, it is not a closed book. If Quattrocchi ends up laughing his way to a Switzerland-headquartered bank, some people in official India will have to come to grief.