Fernandes demands dismissal of Law Minister
by Maya Singh

    New Delhi: The Janata Dal (United) today demanded the dismissal of Law Minister HR Bhardwaj and the Additional Solicitor General B Dutta in wake of the recent revelations into the Bofors case that the Law Ministry had asked the British authorities to release illegal moneys frozen in two bank accounts of fugitive Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi on the ground that there was no link to the Bofors pay-offs and the businessman.

   In a statement released here, JD-U President George Fernandes demanded clarification from Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on whether it was done with his concurrence. Fernandes said, "I would like to remind Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh of the time he was heading the South Commission in Geneva and told then Journalist Chitra Subramaniam that he was appalled by the unravelling Bofors scandal". "The very least he can now do to retrieve the black blot is to dismiss his Law Minister HR Bhardwaj and the Additional Solicitor General (ADG) B Dutta," he added. The statement said that the CBI has clear documented evidence that of direct payments into Quattrochis accounts in connection with the Howitzer deal. The evidence goes far beyond the banks in Switzerland as there were documented instructions by Quattrochi to disburse the monies in to other accounts across the world. "We also demand that the CBI bring investigators in Switzerland and Sweden into what was always essentially an international investigation so that the entire truth about where the Bofors money went is unravelled once and for all," it said. Investigations into Sweden and Switzerland are rigorous and meticulous and the results of these are what has been the foundation of the CBI's currently aborted investigations. There is a case still existing against him in Indias courts in connection with having made money illegally from the Bofors Defence deals, and the CBI has confirmed that a red corner notice by Interpol is still alive. It is shocking that the UPA Government is using all its might to illegally bury the criminal deeds of a foreign citizen and 'personal friend' of Sonia Gandhi, the statement says.

    Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court in connection with the case. The PIL asks the Government to withdraw its request to defreeze Quattrocchi's accounts. Challenging Governments stand before the British authorities to defreeze bank accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, Advocate Ajay Agarwal filed a petition in the Supreme Court. Agarwal in his petition has questioned Centres move in which it told the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), London, that the funds in the two frozen accounts of Quattrocchi and the Bofors payoff case had no link. Agarwal has also sought a direction from the court for Additional Solicitor General B Dutta to produce letter/authority which he had carried in person to the CPS. It has also questioned Law Minister H R Bhardwaj as to how he was giving statements to the media that there was no evidence against Quattrocchi despite the fact that an Interpol Red Corner notice was still valid.

   The Bharatiya Janata Party also came down heavily on Bhardwaj accusing him of "trying to scuttle" investigation in the case following his statement over the issue. Besides opposition parties, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Samajwadi Party, which extend outside support to the UPA government, also have questioned the governments action. "We have no faith in the CBI. It gave a clean chit to Quattrocchi and now the government has decided to defreeze his accounts in London," Samajwadi Party vice-president Janeshwar Mishra said. However, the Congress has claimed that in the absence of any form of evidence against both Rajiv and the party itself, the issue now stands dead. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi while trying to defend Government over the matter said, "I have checked up the facts with the Additional Solicitor General and as far as the facts go, there is a query from the Crown Prosecution Service on the Bofors case. The records and the material have been shown to them and records show no proof against Quattrochi." A private TV channel revealed on Wednesday that Indias Additional Solicitor General B Dutta had visited the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on December 22, 2005, requesting them to de-freeze two bank accounts in BSI AG bank in London. These bank accounts belonged to Quattrocchi. The issue has generated a political debate across the country.

SC declines urgent hearing on Quattrocchi's petition

    New Delhi: The Supreme Court today declined an urgent hearing to the petition filed by one advocate in connection with the government's stand before the British authorities to defreeze bank accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. The bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal asked advocate Ajay Agarwal to fulfill the technicalities required for hearing a petition. "First get the petition registered and listed in the mentioning list," the bench said and warned Agarwal not to submit newspaper reports when counsel wanted to describe the incident orally.

   The petition which was filed by Agarwal, yesterday has questioned the Central Governments move in which it told the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), London, that the funds in the two frozen accounts of Quattrocchi and the Bofors payoff case had no link. Agarwal has also sought a direction from the court for Additional Solicitor General B Dutta to produce letter/authority which he had carried in person to the CPS. The petition has also questioned Law Minister H R Bhardwaj that how he was giving statements to the media that there was no evidence against Quattrocchi despite the fact that an Interpol Red Corner notice was still valid. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party also came down heavily on Law Minister H R Bhardwaj accusing him of "trying to scuttle" investigation in the case following his statement over the issue. Speaking to the media yesterday, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley blamed the Law Minister for acting "without the authority of the Law". Jaitley went on to say that that Bhardwaj's action exposed the complete lack of ethics and morality of the UPA Government.

Back to Headlines                  Go To Top