SC fixes for hearing in October plea relating to Bofors pay-off case

The Supreme Court on Friday put for final hearing in October a plea relating to Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case, amidst recent media reports suggesting a financial quid pro quo for the Rs 1,437 crore Howitzer gun deal in 1986.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Dipak Misra agreed to consider the matter on an application by BJP leader and advocate Ajay Kumar Agrawal for early hearing.

He had challenged the Delhi High Court May 31, 2005, judgement that had quashed all charges against the Europe-based Hinduja brothers in the case.

The apex court had on October 18, 2005, admitted his petition which was filed after the CBI failed to approach the top court with the appeal within the 90-day deadline following the High Court verdict.

The hearing assumes significance in the wake of a demand in Parliament by ruling BJP MPs for reopening of the probe into the Bofors kickback scandal after the media reports quoting Swedish chief investigator Sten Lindstrom's suggested the alleged bribery at the top level.

Agarwal, who contested the Rai Bareli Lok Sabha elections in 2014 against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had written a letter to the Enforcement Directorate seeking an investigation into the trail of the kickback money under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The HC had in 2005 quashed the charges against the Hinduja brothers and pulled up the CBI for wasting about Rs 250 crore in its probe. Earlier in 2004, the HC had let off former Rajiv Gandhi in the case.