Parliament panel members want CBI to 'reopen' Bofors case

The six-member PAC sub-committee on defence is looking into non-compliance of certain aspects of the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG report of 1986 on the Bofors howitzer gun deal.

New Delhi, July 14: The Bofors arms case involving allegations of kickbacks to then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and other top officials should be reopened and the CBI should ask for the government's permission to go to the Supreme Court for it, a group of MPs said at a meeting.

CBI Director Alok Verma faced questions from the members of the sub-committee on defence attached to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on why the premier investigating agency did not approach the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court dismissed proceedings in the case in 2005, reports PTI.

The six-member PAC sub-committee on defence is looking into non-compliance of certain aspects of the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG report of 1986 on the Bofors howitzer gun deal.
Verma and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra were among the officials who appeared before the panel headed by BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab.

During the meeting, several members including Mr Mahtab and BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey said that the CBI should "reopen" the case and file a fresh plea in the Supreme Court, the two members who were present at the meeting said on condition of anonymity.

Both the lawmakers are from different political parties. The Bofors scandal relating to alleged payment of kickbacks in procurement of howitzer artillery guns had triggered a massive political storm and led to the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1989.

CBI wanted to approach SC in 2005

The CBI wanted to approach the Supreme Court in 2005 after the Delhi High court quashed the Bofors case but it was denied permission by the then UPA government, Dubey said.

OneIndia News