The CBI, which has decided to close the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, has refused to reveal information about him relating to the Bofors payoff case under the Right to Information Act (RTI) on the grounds that it will "impede" the prosecution of the accused.
The disclosure "would impede the process of apprehension and prosecution of accused," the investigating agency said in reply to a plea under the RTI Act.
CBI said, as the criminal case against Quattrocchi was still pending in the trial court and that various other petitions relating to the case were yet to be disposed of in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court, the documents and information can neither be provided nor allowed to be inspected.
The CBI's reply came on the RTI application filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal seeking all documents, notings and files pertaining to defreezing of Quattrocchi and his wife's accounts at London.
The lawyer, who has opposed closure of the case against Quattrocchi in the apex and trial courts, had also sought all information including advices, opinions and notings of law officers as well as CBI officers who allegedly favoured him, leading to withdrawal of the Red Corner Notice against him in November 2008.
The CBI had on October 3 sought legal burial of the over-two-decade-old case against Quattrocchi, 69, on the ground that "continuance of his prosecution will be unjustified".
It filed a withdrawal application before a Delhi court, which has fixed March 31, 2010 for deciding on its plea.
Quattrocchi has never appeared before any court in the country.
The CBI had failed on two occasions in its attempt to extradite Quattrocchi – first from Malaysia in 2003 and then from Argentina in 2007.
In November last year, the agency had asked the Interpol to take Quattrocchi's name off the Red Corner notice.
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