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- S Gurumurthy
- The truth about bribery in the Bofors case which haunted the ruling family for over 20 years is now awaiting the signal from the Supreme Court for its final burial. The Central government told the Supreme Court on September 29 it had decided to withdraw the case against Quattrocchi — more famously known as ‘Q’. If that happens, it would be the end of the pursuit of the buccaneers who had looted the Indian public in the Bofors deal. This is what happens when the accused captures power over the prosecutor. No court, including the Supreme Court, can dispense justice if the prosecutor joins hand with the accused and refuses to prove the case.
- The first thing the UPA-I did was to defreeze the account to enable Q and Maria to withdraw and run away with the money. The next thing it did was to allow Q to escape from Argentina where he was detained.
And now the UPA-II has decided to bury the case altogether, of course with the stamp of the Supreme Court of India. It is not that the UPA is keen to protect Q; it has to protect Q to ensure that its chairperson Sonia Gandhi is not embarrassed. That Sonia, Maria and Q were close family friends was established by the CBI search of Q’s residence in 1993. It found that they shared annual holidays, dined together at weekends, had joint family photographs and left each other’s children in one another’s custody. - Now that the prosecution is being withdrawn, the buccaneers are free to draw the balance bribe money from Bofors. Q will get his balance $29 million and others would get their balance of $227 million. In today’s rupee terms, Q’s further $29 million means Rs 140 crore plus. The entire bribe money at current rupee value of the dollar will exceed Rs 600 crore! It’s worth waiting for 20 years, isn’t it?.
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Monday, October 19, 2009
Q can draw millions more
