Case against CBI's withdrawal of Bofors case adjourned
New Delhi: A Delhi Court Friday deferred pronouncement of its order by five months on a plea of a lawyer objecting CBI's stand of withdrawing the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja, who was to deliver the order today, adjourned the matter till March 31, 2010 saying that it did not have the original documents which have been sent to the Supreme Court. The court had on October 24 deferred its order on the issue till today.
The lawyer, Ajay Agarwal, had challenged the CBI's move to withdraw the case on October three, saying it was trying to close the "politically-sensitive" case despite
having "sufficient evidence" against him.
CBI had sought the legal burial of the case against Quattrocchi, 69, on the ground that "continuance of his prosecution will be unjustified".
The agency had said it has arrived at this conclusion after its failure on two occasions to extradite the businessman from Malaysia and Argentina to face trial.
The CBI, which also relied on various other factors including the Delhi High Court judgements quashing charges against all other co-accused to justify its decision, had said
that the application to withdraw the case has been filed in "good faith and in public interest".
Bureau Report