'Bhatnagar's death will not affect Bofors trial'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 5. The death of the former Defence Secretary, S.K. Bhatnagar, one of the key accused in the Rs. 64 crore Bofors pay-off scam, will not affect the trial, but the proceedings against him will abate, the CBI spokesman, Mr. S.M.Khan, said today.

S.K. Bhatnagar, 71, died here last night. He was one of the persons to have been questioned first by the CBI after registering the First Information Report (FIR) in the Bofors pay- off case in January 1990. He was accused of abusing his official authority as the then Defence Secretary to tilt the scales in favour of the Swedish firm for the Rs. 1437-crore contract to supply 155 mm howitzer guns to the Army. The contract with the Government was signed on March 24, 1986, when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.

Bhatnagar, who served as the Sikkim Governor, had challenged the splitting of Bofors case trial in a petition filed recently before the Delhi High Court. It was to come up for hearing on September 6. Sources said that after the death of the former Defence Secretary there would be no one to pursue the petition.

The three Hinduja brothers, the Italian businessman, Mr. Ottavio Quattrocchi, the former Bofors agent, Mr. Win Chadha, and the former Bofors chief, Mr. Martin Ardbo, also figure in the CBI chargesheet filed last year.

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