The ghost of the Bofors scam has returned to haunt London-based Hinduja brothers, as the Supreme Court posted the matter for final hearing in the week commencing from October 30. In 2005, BJP leader and advocate Ajay K Agarwal had challenged a Delhi High Court order that cleared Srichand, Gopichand, and Prakashchand Hinduja along with the company Bofors of all charges of corruption. Interestingly, the Sunday Times Rich List 2017 named Srichand and Gopichand as Britain's wealthiest men with an estimated wealth of 16.2 billion pounds.
On Friday, Agarwal filed a petition seeking an early hearing claiming that the matter has been delayed long enough. The decision taken by the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra takes on added significance with recent media reports suggesting a Rs 64-crore kickback for the 1986 howitzer deal to the tune of Rs 1,473 crore.
During the recently concluded monsoon session, ruling BJP MPs had demanded a re-opening of the investigation into the multi-crore Bofors scam. The demand came after media reports had quoted Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom who suggested that then top Indian politicians were allegedly bribed.
In a July 28 letter, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had claimed that the kickbacks were continuously paid till as late as 2006 when Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi's bank account in London was de-freezed.
In clearing Bofors, the HC had also come down on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its poor handling of the case, which cost the government Rs 250 crore.
