A Delhi court today adjourned its order on the objections raised by a lawyer on CBI's withdrawal of the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja put the matter for November six for order on the application filed by advocate Ajay Agarwal.
The lawyer had challenged the CBI's move to withdraw the case on October three, saying it was trying to close the "politically-sensitive" case despite having "sufficient evidence" against him.
CBI had sought the legal burial of the case against Quattrocchi, 69, on the ground that "continuance of his prosecution will be unjustified".
The agency had said it has arrived at this conclusion after its failure on two occasions to extradite the businessman from Malaysia and Argentina to face trial.
The CBI, which also relied on various other factors including the Delhi High Court judgements quashing charges against all other co-accused to justify its decision, had said that the application to withdraw the case has been filed in "good faith and in public interest".
Agarwal, the advocate, raised question of propriety of government counsel and alleged that Solicitor General (SG) Gopal Subramanium and Additional Solicitor General (ASG) PP Malhotra, who are representing the CBI now, had appeared for Win Chaddha, one of the accused, before different courts here.
CBI counsel, on its part, had submitted that "publicity and politics have no role to play in such matters and such a petition cannot be entertained. The petitioners (advocates) are strangers to the investigation and prosecution. They,
therefore, have no locus standi".
Agarwal had countered their plea by saying that the Supreme Court had already accepted his locus in the Bofors case by accepting appeal filed by him against a Delhi High Court verdict.
Another advocate Jitender Soni had also moved the court opposing the CBI's withdrawl of the case against Quattrocchi.
Quattrocchi, the sole surviving accused in the case after the Delhi High Court quashed the charges on May 31, 2005 against other accused, has never appeared before any court in the country.
CBI had failed on two occasion in its attempt to extradite Quattrocchi first from Malaysia in 2003 and then from Argentina in 2007.
Earlier, the CBI had in November last year asked the Interpol to take Quattrocchi's name off the Red Corner notice.
Comments