BJP MPs demand reopening of Bofors case; Rahul says, let them raise it for another 30 years

BJP member Meenakshi Lekhi said there were documents pertaining to discussions between then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme which proved a quid pro quo.

New Delhi, July 24: Lok Sabha members from the treasury benches on Monday raised a demand to reopen investigation into the alleged Bofors guns scam.

While several members from the treasury benches were seen demanding a discussion on the issue, BJP member from New Delhi Meenakshi Lekhi said there were documents pertaining to discussions between then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme which proved a quid pro quo.

In response to BJP members allegations against his father, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi remained defiant and said: "They have been raising it for thirty years, let them raise it for another 30 years." Rahul Gandhi has called for an emergency meeting of his close aides at his residence, reported Republic TV.

Sten Lindstrom, the Swedish police official who led the investigations, has been reported as saying Rajiv Gandhi and Palme discussed the details of a financial quid-pro-quo before the Bofors gun deal. under which Bofors would pay money to a foundation in Sweden to make it easier for payments to be made to Indians and others.

"According to Lindstrom, the documents related to that discussion are still somewhere with the government. To say that it is an old case and it should be forgotten is wrong, because when old issues are not settled, their ghosts return to haunt," Lekhi said.

BJP's Nishikant Dubey also raised the issue.

"The CBI should open and re-investigate the case. CBI had sought permission earlier as well, but he UPA government did not allow them," Dubey said.

The Bofors issue came in focus again recently after a parliamentary panel suggested that the case of irregularities in purchase of Bofors guns should be reopened as there were many "loopholes" in the investigation in past.

The CBI has said it can re-investigate only if a court or government order was issued.

The alleged corruption in the Bofors gun deal had created a scandal in 1989, leading to the fall of the government under Rajiv Gandhi.

A six-member Parliamentary Accounts Committee's subcommittee on defence was looking into non-compliance of certain aspects of the CAG report of 1986 on the deal.

IANS