SC agrees to hear old plea in Bofors case
The ghost of Bofors kickback case is set to haunt the Congress once again.
NEW DELHI: The ghost of Bofors kickback case is set to haunt the Congress once again.
The Supreme Court on Friday posted for final hearing in the last week of October a petition challenging the quashing of charges against the three UK-based Hinduja brothers in the Rs 64 crore alleged pay off case related to purchase of Bofors Howitzer artillery guns by the Congress government in the 1980s.
The court's decision comes within days of demands in Parliament by ruling BJP MPs for reopening the probe into the kickback scandal after media reports quoted Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom suggesting alleged bribery in the deal at the top level.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed with the submissions of petitioner Ajay Agarwal for early listing of the appeal pending for over a decade and told him that it will be taken up in the last week of October.
The Delhi high court had, on May 31, 2005, quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers - Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand - brothers and criticised the CBI for its handling of the case, saying it had cost the exchequer Rs 250 crore.