Inside Track: Rip Van Winkle CBI

Government departments specialise in circular movements leading nowhere to please the government of the day. But the CBI surely takes the cake in its recent claims of still investigating the Bofors case.

Recently, the CBI announced that it has been regularly sending letters rogatory to the US since November 8, 2023, asking for permission to interrogate Michael Hershman, a private American detective. (Express Archives)

Written by: Coomi Kapoor

5 min readApr 7, 2025 07:47 AM IST First published on: Apr 6, 2025 at 07:43 AM IST

Government departments specialise in circular movements leading nowhere to please the government of the day. But the CBI surely takes the cake in its recent claims of still investigating the Bofors case. In 2011, the HC had discharged all accused of conspiracy in bribery for purchase of the Swedish guns, including Rajiv Gandhi, the Hinduja brothers and even Ottavio Quattrocchi. The CBI withdrew prosecution claiming there was a lack of evidence. The CBI exoneration was despite the fact that all bank documents detailing who were behind the secret bank account payments were handed over to India with much fanfare in 1997 by the Swiss authorities and a series of telling exposes by journalist Chitra Subramaniam over the years provided clinching proof of the involvements in the kickbacks. In her recent bestseller, Bofors Gate, she confirms the suspicion that her impeccable sources include then Swedish police chief, Sten Lindstrom.

More than a decade after the court discharge, the CBI like Rip Van Winkle woke from its slumber and tried to file an appeal in the SC against the HC judgment. Recently, the CBI announced that it has been regularly sending letters rogatory to the US since November 8, 2023, asking for permission to interrogate Michael Hershman, a private American detective. He had boasted on an Indian TV channel in October 2017 that he had clues he could share on the Bofors payments. He claimed to have been hired by the Finance Ministry under V P Singh in 1986 to trace violations of currency laws by wealthy Indians. His assertion seems far-fetched. The Ministry has no record of his being hired. And the conjecture is that at the time, his fees were perhaps footed by an Indian tycoon hoping to get the Ministry to take action against a rival industrialist. Two obvious questions beg an answer. Why is the CBI looking for new clues when it has a mountain of verified evidence in its store room? Also, since BJP politician and lawyer Ajay Agarwal says he spoke to Hershman, a private citizen, directly on the telephone, why doesn’t the CBI simply do likewise?

Rough and Reddy

The Congress high command in Delhi has a reputation for dealing sternly with regional leaders who flex their muscles. But the party is discovering it is tough to rein in Telangana CM Revanth Reddy, an outsider inducted into the Congress fold. His outrageous remarks and high-handed actions against free speech and dismissing the anti-defection law are acutely embarrassing to the Congress, what with the courts chastising the Reddy government. Complaints are mounting from party workers against Reddy and his brothers, particularly the proposed transfer of 400 acres of an ecological forest near Hyderabad University for an IT park. Discontent is also rife against Deputy CM and Revenue Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka who looks after government payments. Last month, in a first, contractors staged a demonstration over unpaid government bills. Replacing Deepa Dasmunshi as Congress general secretary in charge of Telangana and bringing in Meenakshi Natarajan has not improved matters. Reddy has friendly interactions with PM Modi when he is in Delhi and keeps in touch with members of his old party, the TDP, to send the message that he has other fish to fry, if the Congress disturbs him.

Missing in Action

It was striking that neither PM Narendra Modi nor Rahul Gandhi, as Leader of the Opposition, spoke during the heated debate on the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament. The BJP entrusted Kiren Rijiju and Amit Shah to defend the bill while deputy Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi and Gandhi favourite K C Venugopal led the charge for the Congress. Modi, Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra did not even intervene during the debate. Modi, who left India before voting on the bill, perhaps kept away because he did not want to ruffle his diplomatic relations with the Islamic world. The Gandhis apprehended that the BJP could use any comment out of context to further its polarising agenda. Incidentally, Gandhi’s absence from the Lok Sabha for four days prior to the bill debate, although he was present in his office in Parliament, also elicited comment.

Shock Treatment

The BJP seems to be slowly ending the time-honoured tradition of political appointees being informed of the good news of their appointments over the phone. Recently, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta confessed that she was kept in suspense till the very end. Her name was announced at a meeting of newly elected Delhi MLAs much to her shock. Similarly, in December 2023, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma was stunned to hear of his sudden elevation in public while his rivals looked on embarrassed. Whether such shock announcements are politically wise or kind is another matter. Public humiliation to those who lost out could be avoided if the names of those selected is known beforehand.