Bofors Case

Date: 
Thursday, 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.