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No link between Bofors funds and gun deal: Hindujas

The Hindujas said on Thursday that they had given statements under oath to the Swiss investigating judge that the funds received by them from Bofors company had no relation to the gun deal with India, in support of their contention of non-involvement in the case.

The Swiss investigating judge in charge of the case had informed their lawyers 'a few weeks ago' that the Central Bureau of Investigation had sent a letter in June last seeking additional information and clarifications, Hinduja group chairman Srichand Hinduja said in a written statement in London in response to media queries.

According to him, the CBI had told the Swiss authorities that the documents received by it earlier in relation to the Hindujas 'do not specifically mention that the amounts paid were in respect of the gun contract' between the Indian government and Bofors 'as in the case of others'.

The CBI had also sought interrogation of the three Hinduja brothers and clarifications on the 'use and final destination of the funds', he said.

"Immediately on being informed of the same, we co-operated with the Swiss judge. We understand that the Swiss authorities have collected and are in the process of transmitting the concerned documents clarifying the matters referred by CBI," Hinduja said.

In New Delhi, CBI sources confirmed that a communication had been sent to the Swiss authorities sometime ago but declined to give any details.

After receiving Swiss bank documents late last year, the CBI has been pressing the three Hinduja brothers - S P Hinduja, G P Hinduja and Prakash Hinduja - to come to India for assisting it in the investigations.

The Hindujas, who have maintained that they had no involvement in the Bofors gun deal and who had mounted a legal challenge in Swiss courts against transfer of bank documents to India, had offered to talk to the CBI in London or Geneva.

According to Hinduja, the documents being transmitted to the CBI by the Swiss authorities include 'clarifications that the funds received had no relation to the gun contract as suitably evidenced', statements by the three brothers given to the investigating judge in respect of the clarifications sought by the CBI and details of the utilisation of the funds by the Hinduja group and documents in respect of that.

"The CBI has already been informed of these facts and of our co-operation in the matter of this inquiry," Hinduja said. He said the fact that these statements were given under oath to the investigating judge with reference to the clarifications sought by the CBI 'the requirement of CBI seeking our interrogation is now met'.

This should enable the CBI to reach the conclusion of 'our non-involvement in the Bofors case', the statement said.

Describing Bofors as a political case, Hinduja expressed the hope that since further evidence required by the CBI was on its way to India, the government and CBI would consider the matter 'on a purely objective basis without being influenced by matters of political expediency'.

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