Bofors Scam

The BJP on Tuesday cited a book by a journalist, who is credited with exposing the alleged Bofors scam, to attack Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and demanded they quit as MPs till they make a full disclosure about their relations with alleged Italian middleman Ottavio Quattrocchi. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed the "huge revelations" made by Chitra Subramaniam in her book 'Bofors Gate' are worrisome, and alleged that Quattrocchi used his proximity to the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia Gandhi to pull strings in finalising defence deals. There was no immediate reaction from the Congress to the BJP's allegations and the demands made at the press conference. It has long been alleged that Quattrocchi, who is no more, enjoyed warm ties with Sonia Gandhi, who is also of Italian origin, and used it to his business advantage in India. He was one of the accused in the CBI's long-winded probe into the alleged bribery in the Bofors gun deal after the kick

A household name for her investigation into the Bofors scandal, Chitra Subramaniam's book offers an unsparing account of the defence deal, even as it examines her own motivation

Journalist and author Chitra Subramaniam has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to make public its discoveries from the "box of evidence" received from Switzerland on Bofors payoffs which, the former officers said, were used in the probe and submitted before the court as evidence in its charge sheet. In an exclusive interview with PTI, the author of 'Boforsgate: A Journalist's Pursuit of Truth' said, "We should be told who opened the box, when it was opened, what was in the boxes." She also wondered if the commission in the deal was 18 per cent, as suggested by the evidence Swedish firm Bofors gave to the Indian government. "Secondly, why would George Fernandez, who was then the defence minister, tell me at the end of 1999 that he was told by Brijesh Mishra not to open the box?" Subramaniam, who has remained firm in her stance on the issue, said, "The CBI is saying what it has to say. I have to say what I have to say." Former Director General of Rajasthan Police, O P .

An application has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of a petition challenging the Delhi High Court's 2005 verdict which quashed all charges, including those against the Hinduja brothers, in the politically sensitive Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-off case. The application, filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal, says the apex court had on November 2, 2018 dismissed the CBI's plea against the high court verdict and said the probe agency can raise all grounds in the appeal filed by him against the same judgement. Agrawal said he had filed the petition in the top court against the high court verdict in 2005 itself and over three decades have gone by since the matter came to light. "Around 16 years have passed of filing of this case by the applicant and 35 years have passed of the occurring of this scam. All the accused persons have died in between leaving Hinduja Brothers. "There have been recurrence of scams in defence sector since the accused in this first ever scam i.e Bof

Hershman also alleged that the bribe money was parked in a Swiss account

The BJP leader had filed the plea in the Apex court

This assumes significance in the wake of a demand in Parliament by BJP MPs for reopening of probe

The Delhi High Court's 2005 order had ruled in favour of quashing proceedings in the case