Bofors case: Quattrocchi's fate to be decided tomorrow

The fate of Italian Businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi might be decided tomorrow as the CBI will be pleading before a Delhi court seeking closure of prosecution in Bofors pay off case as all efforts to extradite him for facing the trial here has failed.

Quattrocchi, the sole surviving accused in the two-decade-old case after the Delhi High Court quashed the charges on May 31, 2005 against other accused, has never appeared before any court in the country.

The CBI, which is probing the politically-sensitive case, will be filing the closure report tomorrow before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily had yesterday said in London that the CBI will withdraw the case against Quattrocchi.

"The Government has taken a decision for withdrawal of the cases and the Public Prosecutor, on behalf of the CBI, will move an application before a magistrate's court in Delhi on October 3," he had said.

The stand of CBI will, however, be opposed by advocate Ajay Agrawal who had yesterday filed an application in the court in his personal capacity pleading it to reject any such move by the investigating agency.

Agrawal had filed the application two days after the government informed the Supreme Court on September 29 that it has decided to drop the case against Quattrocchi saying it could not be kept pending forever as two attempts to extradite him have failed.

Agrawal, who has been pursuing the Bofors case in the Supreme Court, had sought rejection of any such move by the investigating agency alleging the Centre has been trying to bail out the 69-year-old Italian businessman.

He had referred to a case of 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which a trial court had in 2007 rejected a closure report against former union minister Jagdish Tytler and directed CBI to re-investigate his alleged role.

Agrawal had filed an appeal in the apex court against the Delhi High Court's May 31, 2005, decision to quash charges against all other accused in the case after CBI failed to challenge it within the mandatory 90-day period.