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CBI gets more time to question Hindujas

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The Central Bureau of Investigation will resume interrogation of Hinduja brothers Tuesday morning, in the wake of a special CBI court order asking the NRI brothers to stay in India till January 30.

However, the agency did not confirm who among the three would be questioned. The agency told the court on Monday that they were yet to complete the interrogation of Srichand Hinduja.

Accepting the CBI argument that it had not completed the interrogation of the three brothers, Special CBI Judge Ajit Bharihoke said the three brothers should stay on in India till January 30.

When the Hinduja counsel asked Judge Bharihoke for permission to permit at least one of the brothers to travel abroad, the Judge directed him to move a separate application.

The counsel said the brothers have varied business interests that could suffer due to their prolonged stay in India.

The judge said if the Hindujas need to travel urgently out of India during their interrogation, they could move a separate application later.

The three brothers are accused of accepting 81 million Swedish Kroners as commission from the Swedish arms manufacturer, Bofors. The company had supplied Indian Army 155 mm Bofors guns.

While accepting before a Swiss court that they had received payments from Bofors, Hindujas have said that the payment was in no way connected to the Bofors gun deal signed by India.

A senior CBI official said the court permission to question the Hindujas for a week, "has given us much needed time to complete their interrogation. We need to question the three brothers independently."

In the morning on Monday, the CBI continued its interrogation of Hinduja group chairman S P Hinduja. It was the third time that the CBI officials were questioning him.

The court had last week turned down a request made by the Hinduja counsel seeking permission for Prakashchand Hinduja to go to Davos, Switzerland, on January 24 to attend a meeting of the International Economic Forum.

"Obviously the court is aware of how important the three brothers are to solve this long-pending case," said a senior CBI official. He said the only missing link in the entire scandal is now Ottavio Quattroachi, the evasive family friend of Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, who is now in Malayasia.

He is fighting a legal battle in Malaysia against his extradition to India.

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