CBI seeks withdrawal of case against 'Q', court to hear on Oct 9

CBI today sought legal burial of the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case by moving for withdrawal of the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi before a Delhi Court, which refused to pass any immediate order.

The court said any order on it could be passed only after perusing the response of the agency to the application filed by an advocate, who has challenged any move for closure of case against the Italian businessman.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja, before whom the case was pending, posted the matter for October 9, asking CBI to respond to the objections raised by advocate Ajay Agrawal, who has contended that the Centre and probe agency were trying to drop the case against Quattrocchi despite having sufficient evidence against him.

CBI sought withdrawal of the case against the 69-year-old businessman on the ground that “continuance of his prosecution will be unjustified”.

The agency said it had arrived at this conclusion after its failure on two occasions to extradite him from Malaysia and Argentina to face trial.

CBI, which also relied on various other factors, including the Delhi High Court judgements quashing charges against all others accused to justify its decision, said the application to withdraw the case had been filed in good faith and in public interest.