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Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 20, May 2, 2009

’Q’ Factor Returns to Revive Bofors’ Ghost

Editorial

Saturday 2 May 2009, by SC

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As the multi-phase electoral exercise for the 15th Lok Sabha enters a crucial stage, the ‘Q’ factor has returned to haunt the Congress: more than 19 years after the Bofors kickbacks case brought down the Rajiv Gandhi Government, the issue has resurfaced in the midst of the poll process—just three weeks before the UPA Government’s term ends, it has come to light that Ottavio Quattrocchi, the lone surviving suspect in the case responsible for a veritable political earthquake in the 1989 elections, no longer figures in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s list of wanted persons and the 12-year Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) against the Italian businessman has been taken off the “Interpol Notices” section of the agency’s website. The CBI’s move, which has come in for sharp criticism if not outright condemnation from several if not all non-Congress political organisations, is learnt to be based on a four-page legal opinion Attorney General Milon Banerjee sent on October 24, 2008. In that he argued that since the CBI did not challenge the February 2004 order of the Delhi High Court questioning all charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Bofors case and “no Special Leave Petition was filed on this ground.... the Red Corner Notice is invalid”. It is further reported that in the legal opinion Banerjee called the RCN “a continuing embarrassment”.

Intrepid journalists have been prompt to point out, on the basis of their painstaking investigations, that contrary to the Attorney General’s argument, it was none other than Milon Banerjee himself who, within two months of the Manmohan Singh Government’s installation at the Centre, overruling the CBI investigators, directed the agency not to file the SLP against the High Court order. Of course, Banerjee can well say that he was merely concurring with the view of the Law Secretary who too felt that “this was not a fit case for filing a Special Leave Petition”.

But side by side another important point has been brought out in the open—it was Quattrocchi’s “aggressive” push against continuation of the RCN with the Interpol that resulted in the eventual removal of the Notice against the Italian businessman. This clearly establishes the fact that the government acted under pressure from Quattrocchi, a close friend of the Gandhi family. Both Quattrocchi and his wife Maria have been allegedly involved in the scandal; the allegation relates to the Italian businessman’s receipt of a kickback of over $ 7 million for having swung a howitzer gun deal in favour of the Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors AG. This buckling under Quattrocchi’s pressure on the part of the Union Government is as shocking as the by-now obvious fact that the government of the day—rather, the Congress leadership running the UPA Government—pressurised the CBI to let the Italian businessman off the hook as demanded by the latter.

No doubt the issue is going to figure prominently in the coming elections since the Bofors’ ghost has for long refused to disappear from the national scene placing the Congress in a quandary; but one is not in a position to gauge its impact on the electorate as of now. The Congress is lately seeking to turn the tables on the BJP by citing the failure since 1989 of successive non-Congress governments, including the previous NDA dispensation, to come up with even a shred of evidence in the case. But the issue is not only about the allegations against Quatrochhi and whether they are true or false—the issue is also intertwined with the question of manipulation and misuse of the CBI for serving the Congress’ political interests; as an institution the agency’s independence has been substantially eroded as a consequence of this specific episode thereby damaging its credibility in large measure. This is not merely most unfortunate but unquestionably detrimental to national interest.

The BJP is visibly elated over this turn of events. But then does it have the moral authority to indulge in moral posturing on this subject? The Supreme Court has, in its latest directive, asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT) it has set up to investigate some of the horrendous crimes in the Gujarat carnage of 2002, to inquire into State CM Narendra Modi‘s role in those events. And the same Modi has been projected by so many BJP leaders as the future PM of the country! As for the BJP leaders’ attitude to Varun Gandhi’s hate-speech, it fully unmasks their ulterior motive to destroy our secular values thus undermining the Constitution.

The Bofors issue has exposed the fragility of the Congress’ claims to uphold principles such as probity in public life. However, have the other parties shouting hoarse on this development fared any better?

April 29 S.C.

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