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| Edited By: |Source: DNA |Updated: Sep 28, 2017, 07:56 AM IST
The spectre of Bofors continues to haunt the Congress. In a new development of the rather protracted matter, the Central Bureau of Investigation has deposed before a Parliamentary panel that the UPA government in 2005 had denied it the permission to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.
The appeal, had it been filed, would have been in the natural order of things for the CBI and would have prevented whatever erosion of credibility it is suffering — now that the truth is coming to the fore.
The appeal was meant to be filed against a 2005 Delhi High Court judgement that had acquitted the Hinduja brothers in the Bofors case. Obviously, the Congress has not taken well to CBI’s depositions.
Many in the party have dubbed this a “politically motivated” move, while its senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge has even gone to the extent of suggesting that the BJP government is keen on dredging up this issue with the intent of demoralising and demotivating the party.
Not surprisingly, there are no voices coming forth from the Congress that are equally vocal on getting to the bottom of the Bofors issue over which, by 2005 alone, over Rs 250 crore had been expended as investigation and legal costs.
This amount is grossly disproportionate given that the actual allegations of bribery involved in the case was merely of Rs 64 crore. This is unpardonable and it is clearly the CBI which is to blame for this gigantic failure. A choked judiciary that has its hands full also contributes, albeit inadvertently, to the woeful expenditure of tax payer’s money.
The need of the hour is for the probe to be expedited and to be taken to its logical conclusion — either of an acquittal or a conviction — for all the players involved in the alleged scam. Further, the scales of justice must apply fairly, indiscriminately and without consideration of political bias to all executive follies.
Thankfully, the PAC has donned the role of a guiding light in this seemingly never-ending case. In August, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had argued that if charges against a few BJP leaders can be resuscitated in the Babri Masjid case by approaching the courts, then the same can be done for the Bofors scandal.
More than a decade back in 2005, when the Delhi High Court had given a clean chit to the three Hinduja brothers under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI, after analysing the judgment, had arrived at a view that an appeal, technically a Special Leave Petition, ought to be filed against the judgement. Consequently, a proposal supporting the view was drafted and forwarded to the Director of Vigilance, DoPT, only for him to summarily dismiss the proposal.
This was a departure from the established protocol of the CBI as the investigation agency is often solicitous in filing appeals, especially in corruption cases, lest its inaction be mistaken for the agency’s shortcomings. However, looking back, it is obvious that executive pressure was foisted on the agency to derail the investigation.
