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    Bofors a mere political tool

    Synopsis

    Cong has shot itself in the foot and given BJP a chance to attack Sonia.

    The Bofors scam of the late 1980s, which seemed dead and buried for all practical purposes, stands revived, thanks to the indecent haste shown by the UPA government in withdrawing the Interpol���s wanted notice against the accused, Ottavio Quattrocchi. Its timing has justifiably caused an uproar. By doing so at this stage of electioneering, the Congress has indeed shot itself in the foot and given the BJP a handle with which to attack Sonia Gandhi. Union law minister H R Bhardwaj has compounded his folly by suggesting the notice was withdrawn at the advice of Attorney General Milon Bannerjee. Bhardwaj has argued the case was not making any headway all these years and the five-year period of the Red Corner Notice against the accused was ending without having served any purpose. Even if there is some merit in this argument, the UPA had no business to act at this juncture. They should have waited for the next government to be in place to take a call on the issue.

    After all, what was the pressing need to do so when the matter is already pending for so many years? The fact is, not even the NDA government took the case seriously. It may be recalled that in February 2004 the Delhi High Court had quashed all charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act pertaining to the Bofors case. The NDA regime did not deem it fit to immediately go in appeal to the Supreme Court. The leading lights of the Vajpayee government must tell the nation why the legal machinery was so lax then. If the matter was so urgent, an appeal could have been made within no time. Since this was not done, the Attorney General later used it as an alibi to recommend the withdrawal of the Interpol notice against Quattrocchi.

    The Indian government���s position also got weakened as it lost the extradition cases in Malaysia in 2003 and in Argentina in 2007. The loss in Argentina was particularly embarrassing as the government had to pay penal costs in addition to badly losing the case. Overall, the Bofors case seems to have been kept alive merely as a political tool to be used from time to time by the Opposition against the Congress. Even that utility has waned in recent years.

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