The bofors scandal started a revolution in India... it became the origin of the term scams... the term which is used without caution these days...
It was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s. The then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer. The scale of the corruption was far worse than any that India had seen before, and directly led to the defeat of Gandhi's ruling Indian National Congress party in the November 1989 general elections.
The scandal was worth around Rs.400 million (speculations as nothing has firmly been put down in paper)
The middleman associated to the scandal was Ottavio Quattrocchi, who has never faced any jail time in Indian Soil...
It has been almost 30 years.... since the beginning, with the case still dragging on.. with the ongoings of the case still costing us money, with the end nowhere in sight.
Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina on 6 February 2007, but the news of his detention was released by the CBI only on 23 February. Quattrocchi has been released by Argentinian police. However, his passport has been impounded and he is not allowed to leave the country.
It was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s. The then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer. The scale of the corruption was far worse than any that India had seen before, and directly led to the defeat of Gandhi's ruling Indian National Congress party in the November 1989 general elections.
The scandal was worth around Rs.400 million (speculations as nothing has firmly been put down in paper)
The middleman associated to the scandal was Ottavio Quattrocchi, who has never faced any jail time in Indian Soil...
It has been almost 30 years.... since the beginning, with the case still dragging on.. with the ongoings of the case still costing us money, with the end nowhere in sight.
Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina on 6 February 2007, but the news of his detention was released by the CBI only on 23 February. Quattrocchi has been released by Argentinian police. However, his passport has been impounded and he is not allowed to leave the country.
However, as there was no extradition treaty between India and Argentina, this case was presented in the Argentine Supreme Court. The government of India lost the extradition case as the government of India did not provide a key court order which was the basis of Quattrochi's arrest. In the aftermath, the government did not appeal this decision owing delays in securing an official English translation of the court's decision.
The Italian businessman no longer figures in the CBI's list of wanted persons and the 12-year Interpol red corner notice against the lone surviving suspect in the Bofors payoff case has been withdrawn from the agency’s website after the CBI’s appeal.
And the story remains unfinished.... for the next generation to ponder on...
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