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Rajiv Gandhi had berated official
for summoning Bofors chief: CBI

The incident occurred during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and the official was the then additional secretary (defence) N N Vohra.

During arguments on framing of charges in the Rs 640 million (Rs 64 crore) Bofors pay-offs case, CBI counsel U S Prasad told Special Judge Prem Kumar that the crucial CCPA meeting was called to discuss the fallout of the allegations.

Prasad said Vohra had summoned Ardbo on the instruction of the then minister of state (MoS) for defence Arun Singh, who wanted the Swedish arms manufacturer to divulge the names of the recipients of the kickbacks.

Quoting from Singh's statement recorded by the agency, Prasad said the MoS also agreed with then attorney general K Parasaran's view that the contract with Bofors could be cancelled with no serious adverse financial implications.

In the said CCPA meeting, having gauged Rajiv Gandhi's mood, several ministers, including Buta Singh, had questioned the propriety of summoning Ardbo, Prasad quoted the MoS as having told the agency.

The CCPA then decided to go for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and instructed the Ministry of Defence to co-operate with the JPC, Prasad told the court.

The CCPA directed Vohra to ensure that the Bofors team did not come to India unless summoned by the JPC and also decided not to act on the advice of the attorney general, he said.

Arun Singh, who had joined the Rajiv Gandhi ministry on September 25, 1985, resigned in July, 1987 after the Bofors scandal broke out.

Quoting from Arun Singh's statement, Prasad told the court that the MoS was "amazed at the unusual haste and high speed" with which several members of the executive and bureaucracy put their signatures on the Bofors file.

He alleged that the then defence secretary S K Bhatnagar kept the MoS in the dark about several things, particularly competing offers.

Bhatnagar, who allegedly had direct access to Rajiv Gandhi, had also changed the meaning of a particular clause of the Bofors contract by adding the word 'Indian' before middlemen, Prasad alleged.

In its first charge sheet filed in October 1999, the CBI had alleged that there was a conspiracy between Rajiv Gandhi, Bhatnagar, Ardbo and Quattrocchi and Bofors to cheat the Government of India in the Howitzer gun deal.

In its second charge sheet filed a year later, the CBI named the three Europe-based Hinduja brothers - Srichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand - as accused.

The court on Tuesday asked several questions about the superiority or otherwise of Bofors over the French gun Sofma, which ultimately the Indian government did not opt for.

When the court specifically asked if Bofors was better than Sofma, the CBI counsel said, "We cannot comment on the quality of the guns."

"Our case is that illegal commissions, kickbacks were paid to some people," Prasad submitted.

More reports on the Bofors pay-offs scandal

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