BJP flogging a dead horse, says Kapil Sibal on Bofors

Congress on Thursday went on the offensive against the BJP on the Bofors pay-offs, saying the NDA regime had failed to come up with any evidence of criminal conspiracy on the issue when it was in power.

"I personally think that it's time the BJP realises that they are flogging a dead horse.

"I remember when the NDA was in power and Mr (Arun) Jaitley knows who the law minister was, that his additional solicitor general in the high court conceded and its recorded in the court judgment of justice JD Kapoor that there was no evidence of any criminal conspiracy or criminal culpability," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said.

He said a Malaysian court had also castigated the then NDA government for having failed to bring on record any evidence despite several opportunities given to them and for six years they tried very hard.

Sibal's reaction came on a day when BJP alleged that the CBI and the government were protecting middlemen who had received kickbacks in the Bofors deal and sought a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the matter.

The principal opposition also hit out at Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh for questioning the timing of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal verdict.