NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha passed the code of criminal procedure (amendment) bill seeking to arm the investigating authorities in India to collect evidence available in foreign countries in respect of a crime committed by a citizen of India outside the country.
Replying to the discussion on the bill, home minister Sayeed said that such powers were needed for the investigative agencies to track down the “‘culprits” involved in the Bofors Gun Deal and several other cases which are in the pipeline.
The bill aims at inserting a new section in the code to enable the investigative authorities and the criminal courts to issue letter of request to their counterparts in foreign countries to collect evidence and transmit the same to the authority or’ court issuing such letter. Every evidence so collected shall be deemed to be evidence collected during course of investigation.
The home minister told the house that this was being done in view of the difficult being encountered by the investigating agencies to book those involved in the Bofors deal.
He said that since the National Front government came to power, it had registered a first information report in the case and had been able to freeze six accounts in Swiss banks in which the commission was said to have been deposited.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 30, 1990
