Author: J. Venkatesan
Publication: The Hindu
Date: November 20, 2002
Notwithstanding the superiority
of the French gun, Sofma, the former Prime Minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi,
"stage-managed the proposal from the Army headquarters in such a way that
they recommended the Bofors gun", the CBI special court has observed while
ordering framing of charges against the three Hinduja brothers.
In his 176-page order, the Special
Judge, Prem Kumar, said: "During the tenure of Gen. Vaidya as Chief of
Army, the French gun was considered superior and Gen. Vaidya stuck to his
feet and refused to play ball".
Mr. Kumar pointed out that the prosecution
witness, Arun Nehru, "had clearly stated that they wanted Gen. Vaidya to
retire. He even stated that the opinion could not be changed in this manner
and Rajiv Gandhi (whose name figures in the chargesheet column as one not
sent up for trial) must have told Gen. Sunderji to buy the Swedish gun
and he could not have said no".
Mr. Nehru had also stated that Arun
Singh and Gen. Sunderji were personal friends and that Gen. Sunderji as
Vice-Chief of the Army Staff used to meet Rajiv Gandhi and Mr. Singh. He
had objected to this because it was bad from the Army's point of view because
as the Vice-Chief, he (Gen. Sunderji) should report to the Chief of the
Army Staff and not to Rajiv Gandhi.
The judge felt that a committee
had been constituted for technical re-evaluation only to see that Bofors
was recommended in place of Sofma. And, "obviously, Rajiv Gandhi has stage-managed
the proposal". The same quality highlighted for Bofors - the theory of
"shoot and scoot" - was nothing new. It was a jugglery of various technical
factors in such a way to suit the decision in favour of Bofors, he added.
Quattrocchi's role
Tracing the close relationship of
the Italian businessman, Ottavio Quattrocchi, another accused in the case,
with the Rajiv Gandhi family, the judge said that around 1974, he was introduced
to Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi by an Italian, Molinari. Mr. and Mrs. Quattrocchi
started visiting the Gandhis and had free access to the Prime Minister's
house. In turn, the Rajiv family also visited Mr. Quattrocchi's house.
Referring to Mr. Nehru's statement
that Mr. Quattrocchi had close links with public servants, the judge said:
"This can be seen by scrutinising the records of the Ministry of Fertilizer
and Chemicals as to how Mr. Quattrocchi got the fertilizer deals during
the period 1980-86". In particular, the award of the Jagdishpur Fertilizer
plant to Mr. Quattrocchi instead of SPIC (reversing an earlier decision)
"is a clear case''.
Also, "the Orissa Power Plant and
very many deals awarded to Mr. Quattrocchi during the period of Rajiv Gandhi
as Prime Minister will speak about the link of power groups and corruption",
Mr. Kumar said.
Explaining Mr. Quattrocchi's role
in the Bofors deal, he said Bofors entered into a fresh consultancy agreement
with M/s AE Services Ltd. of the United Kingdom, in which Mr. Quattrocchi
was the main beneficiary, with the sole objective of getting the contract
from the Government of India and Bofors was to pay a 3 per cent commission
to him. On June 13, 1994, Myles T. Stoott, executive, AE Services, explained
before the Swiss Court of Justice that SKR 50,463,965 was paid to the firm
in relation to the contract dated March 24, 1986.
The judge said Mr. Quattrocchi had
contested the execution of the letter rogatory in Switzerland. His appeal
having failed, he left India surreptitiously in July 1993 though his posting
in the country was up to December 1993. He had not returned since then
and was currently contesting the extradition proceedings in Malaysia.
