Bofors backlash: court to decide on Quattrochi today
04 Jan 2011
The Tis Hazari court in New Delhi will decide today on a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation seeking to drop criminal proceedings against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, accused of accepting kickbacks in the 1986 Bofors case.
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal on Monday said that late Win Chaddha got Rs52.6 crore and Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi got $7 million (about Rs13 crore at 1987 rates) as kickbacks.
The ITAT's ruling could have implications for the main Bofors case, in which the CBI is trying to convince a Delhi court to accept its closure report, saying it doesn't have enough evidence to establish the kickbacks money trail.
The CBI has said in its plea that continued prosecution of Quattrocchi is "unjustified" in the light of lack of evidence, and hence it has failed in its attempts to extradite him.
An ITAT bench comprising R P Tolani and R C Sharma, which dismissed Win Chaddha's son Hersh W Chaddha's appeal against the income tax department's claim of Rs52 crore and Rs85 lakh from his father for assessment years 1987-88 and 1988-89 respectively, wondered why the department did not investigate Quattrocchi and his company, AE Services.
In September 2010, the CBI told the Delhi court that there was no point in seeking prosecution of Quattrocchi as repeated attempts to extradite him had failed and two decades had already elapsed in the case.