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SC reserves verdict in Bofors case

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI May 6. The Supreme Court today reserved judgment on the appeals filed by the CBI and the Central Vigilance Commission challenging a Delhi High Court order quashing the chargesheet against the three Hinduja brothers in the `Rs. 64 crore Bofors payoff case'.

A Bench, comprising Justice S. Rajendra Babu and Justice G.P.Mathur, reserved the verdict at the conclusion of arguments by the Solicitor-General, Kirit Raval, for the CBI and the CVC and the senior counsel, Ram Jethmalani, for the three Hinduja brothers.

Mr. Raval denied the Hindujas' allegation that the case against them was politically motivated and said the CBI had proceeded in accordance with the law.

He also said that the CBI had complied with the Supreme Court directives in the Vineet Narain case substantially by seeking clearance from the CVC before filing the chargesheet against public servants accused in the case.

As the Hindujas were not public servants, there was no need to get fresh CVC sanction when the chargesheet against them was filed after getting documents from the Swiss authorities, he said.

On the allegation that the CBI did not get all the documents it had asked for but still went ahead with the filing of the chargesheet, Mr. Raval said the CBI had made a grievance before the Swiss authorities that not all documents requested for in the Letter Rogatory had been supplied to the agency.

The absence of certain documents did not mean that the chargesheet could not be filed on the basis of the available evidence, which was sufficient to prove the charges.

Mr. Jethmalani asserted that if only the CBI had sought prior approval of the CVC, it would not have given sanction for filing such a chargesheet as there was "absolutely no evidence" to link the Hindujas to the Bofors gun deal commission.

The chargesheet was politically motivated and the Bofors case surfaced whenever elections approached, he submitted.

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