Hindujas Bofors-free, HC lets them off on cheating charge

This comes on top of a judgment delivered in February 2004 by the High Court giving a clean chit to the late Rajiv Gandhi and quashing all charges of ‘‘corruption’’ and ‘‘bribery’’ against the Hindujas.

The High Court had then directed that the Hindujas and Bofors be tried for the smaller offence of conspiring to cheat the Government by making two misrepresentations: one, that there were no agents involved in the negotiations and, two, that the price quoted was proportionately reduced by the amount of the commission that would have otherwise had to be paid.

But the High Court today ‘‘recalled’’ its earlier order and thereby saved the Hindujas and Bofors from being tried even on the charge of conspiracy to cheat.

This is because of the High Court’s discovery of ‘‘a totally new piece of evidence’’ undermining the documents on which the CBI was seeking to prosecute the Hindujas and Bofors.

The evidence that has thus led to the collapse of the case was a letter written earlier this year on February 22 by the Prosecutor’s office in Sweden. The letter, which was produced in the court by the CBI, disclosed that the documents used in the case were photocopies emanating from the Prosecutor’s office in Sweden rather than from any judicial authority over there.

As a result, Justice Sodhi rejected the CBI’s contention that those documents could be admitted as evidence that had been received in pursuance of a letter rogatory issued by an Indian court in 1998 to its Swedish counterpart.

Since the documents had not been sent by any court in Sweden, Sodhi held that they were all ‘‘private documents’’ which could have been used as evidence only if they had been ‘‘authenticated’’ as required by the Indian Evidence Act. ‘‘Evidence collected during the investigation must be capable of being converted into evidence as defined in the Evidence Act,’’ he said.

Since the CBI admittedly had no access to the original documents in Sweden, the Delhi High Court concluded there was no way that the agency would be able to prove the authenticity of the photocopies in its possession.

‘‘Based on this dubious material, to allow a prosecution to go on for many more years in respect of a transaction of more than 20 years vintage is sheer persecution, waste of public time and money,’’ Justice Sodhi said, adding, ‘‘I cannot foresee any chance of successful termination of such a useless prosecution.’’

This should come as good news to the Italian businessman, Ottavio Quattrochi, who is technically the only accused left in the Bofors payoff case. The shortcomings in the evidence against the Hindujas applies to him as well. The only reason the case is still pending against him is that the CBI has for over a decade been unable to extradite him and produce him in the court.

Wrapping up his 36-page verdict, Justice Sodhi deplored the fact that a whopping expenditure of Rs 250 crores is said to have been incurred so far on this one case. ‘‘During the investigation, a huge bubble was created with the aid of the media which, however, when tested by the court, burst leaving behind a disastrous trail of suffering.

‘‘Careers—both political and professional—were ruined besides causing huge economic loss. Many an accused lived and died with a stigma. It is hoped that this elite investigating agency will be more responsible in future,’’ Sodhi added.