February
5,
2004
The
Polit
Bureau
of
the
Communist
Party
of
India
(Marxist)
has
issued
the
following
statement:
On
Bofors
Case
The
Delhi
High
Court
has
cleared
Rajiv
Gandhi
of
the
charges
of
accepting
bribe
on
the
Bofors
gun
deal.
The
chargesheet
filed
by
the
CBI
had
not
made
such
a
charge
against
him
in
the
first
place.
The
issue
was
the
illegitimate
manner
in
which
the
Bofors
gun
deal
was
pushed
through
and
the
bribes
paid
by
Bofors
to
"middle-men"
who
were
not
supposed
to
exist.
The
CBI
case
was
that
there
was
a
conspiracy
to
hand
over
the
contract
to
Bofors
and
certain
middlemen
had
illegally
got
kickbacks
for
the
same.
In
this
context,
it
is
not
understandable
why
the
charges
under
the
Prevention
of
Corruption
Act
against
the
Hindujas
have
been
quashed.
At
the
same
time,
the
court
has
not
negated
the
fact
that
kickbacks
of
Rs.
64
crores
were
given
for
the
Bofors
deal.
It
is
imperative
that
the
case
against
the
Hindujas,
Quattrochhi
and
the
Bofors
executive
Martin
Ardbo
be
pursued
so
that
those
guilty
of
one
of
the
most
glaring
cases
of
corruption
in
independent
India
be
prosecuted
and
punished.
