GENEVA: A Swiss cantonal court may have stopped the transfer of crucial Bofors documents to Indian investigators on grounds that India’s guarantees of a free and fair trial aimed ‘At protecting the rights of the accused fall short of international standards. This learnt that the Geneva cantonal court could be seeking additional guarantees to ensure that basic human nights of the defendants be protected when the matter goes to trial in India. It appears that the investigating magistrate, Mr. Paul Perradin, who decided last year to transfer the crucial documents to India, may be directed to seek such guarantees from India. Sources said the court appears to have no problem with the facts of the case that gives details of bribes paid by Bofors for the gun contract with India. Documents obtained from Sweden established that Bofors was contractually bound to pay some Rs 25¢ crore as kickbacks into secret Swiss bank accounts. The amount already traced to Swiss bank accounts is R 364 crore. Indian investigators have won every round of the six year court battle which began when the V.P. Singh Government sought Swiss assistance in January 1990 to trace the recipients of the payoffs. India’s counsel in Switzerland, Mr, Mare Bonnant, when contacted for comments said if such a development had taken place, it was very regrettable. “I_ know the scrupulous way in which India has worked on this case and judging by that, the fears of the Geneva court are unfounded.”
The Federal Police Office can appeal against the decision at the Swiss Federal Court In July 1993, the Swiss Federal Court admitted India’s request for assistance on charges of corruption, forgery and embezzicment. By that same judgment, Switzerland’s highest court threw out appeals by seven persons and entities Gopich and P. Hinduja, Prakash Hinduja, Such and Hindoja, Washeshar Nath Chadha, Ottavio Quatrocchi, the Jubilee Finance Corporation and Svenska Inco ‘The Federal Court also said that at the appropriate moment, some guarantees to protect the rights of the accused would be necessary from India.
Such a guarantees was sent from the highest quarters in India on February 10, 1994.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 17, 1996
