New Delhi: The CBI has sought the approval of the government to reconsider its decision of 2005 in the Bofors case and challenging the filing of the FIR in the alleged scam, a special permission petition filed in the Supreme Court seeking SLP filing. In a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training, the CBI said that it wants to file an SLP challenging the Delhi High Court’s May 31, 2005 order, in which the Bofors case is to cancel all charges against Hinduja brothers in Europe.
Government officials said that the CBI wanted to file SLP only in 2005, but then UPA government did not give it its approval. Legal experts believe that for more than 12 years, the agency has to give a lot of explanation to ignore this. RS Sodhi, the then Judge of the Delhi High Court had on 31 May 2005 dismissed all charges against Hinduja brothers – Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Chand and Bofors Company It imposed a burden of Rs 250 crore on the public exchequer.
Prior to the 2005 decision, another then Judge JD Kapoor of the Delhi High Court had acquitted the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on February 4, 2004 and directed the Bofors Company to decide on the charges of cheating under Section 465 of the IPC. On Wednesday, the CBI had said that it will consider the facts and circumstances of the Bofors scam, according to claims of private detective Michael Hershman. Hershman has alleged that the government led by late Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi was stuck in his investigation.
