NEW DELHI: In what could be a possible shift in governments stand in the Bofors case, the additional solicitor general, Altaf Ahmed, on Thursday, failed to give a direct reply to the counsel for Win Chadda one of the suspected payoffs beneficiaries, now holed up in Dubai that his client be interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation in London. Dinesh Mathur, Chadhas counsel, made the suggestion before Justice V.B. Bansal of the Delhi High court where the revision petition of Chadha seeking cancellation of the arrest warrants issued against him by a metropolitan magistration and restoration of his impounded passport came up for hearing once again.
Prior to Thursdays hearing, the government stand on Chadhas petition had been that he could be interrogated in India and nowhere else. He had to make himself available to Indian investigators and there was no substance in his petition, the court was told repeatedly on each hearing.
But, on Thursday, when Mathur suggested that Chadha could come to London for interrogation, Altaf Ahmed representing CBI faltered. At the time of the proceedings, a senior CBI official associated with Bofors case since the days of Madhavan was also present in the court room; Ahmed first said he would need some time to reply to the proposal. He then turned to the CBI official, who, it was learned, said the decision in this regard could only be taken up by the higher ups in CBI meaning either R.C. Sharma, the newly appointed joint director in the Bofors case, or Vijay Karan, the director himself.
The hearing will continue on Friday and by then the CBIs and the governments stand would be hopefully known.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 28, 1992
