Agrawal will have to argue the merits of his case and justify how as a third party, he can appeal against an order in a criminal case.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ajay Agrawal on Tuesday asking him in what capacity he was filing an appeal against the Delhi High Court judgment in the Rs 64-crore Bofors scam pronounced in 2005.
"PILs are used in personal battles, political battles, commercial battles, publicity battles, and now we are seeing it in criminal jurisprudence. Criminal appeals can only be filed by state or relatives of the victim. Why is a third-party bothered when the CBI had not appealed Bofors discharge in 13 years?" the bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked Agrawal.
Agrawal will have to argue the merits of his case and justify how as a third party, he can appeal against an order in a criminal case. The matter has now been posted on February 1.
In 2005, BJP leader and advocate Ajay Agarwal had challenged a Delhi High Court order that cleared Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand Hinduja along with the company Bofors of all charges of corruption.
Interestingly, the Sunday Times Rich List 2017 named Srichand and Gopichand as Britain's wealthiest men with an estimated wealth of £16.2 billion.
The ghost of the Bofors scam returned to haunt the London-based Hinduja brothers after Agarwal filed a petition in September 2017 seeking an early hearing claiming that 12 years the matter had been delayed long enough.
The decision taken by the bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra takes on added significance with recent media reports suggesting a Rs. 64-crore kickback for the 1986 howitzer deal to the tune of Rs. 1,473 crore.
In the monsoon session of the parliament, ruling BJP MPs had demanded a re-opening of the investigation in the multi-crore Bofors scam. The demand came after media reports had quoted Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom who suggested top Indian politicians at the time were allegedly bribed.
In a July 28 letter, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had claimed that the kickbacks were continuously paid till as late as 2006 when Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi's bank account in London was de-freezed.
Quattrochi, who died in 2013, was sought after by the Indian investigation agencies for his alleged role as a conduit.
On May 31, 2005, Justice R S Sodhi (now retired) of the Delhi High Court, had quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers. In clearing Bofors, the HC had also come down on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its poor handling of the case which cost the government ex-checker a whopping Rs. 250 crore.
In a related matter, Justice J D Kapoor (since retired) of the Delhi High Court, had exonerated the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the case.
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