GENEVA: The Swiss Federal court has upheld charges of corruption, forgery and embezzlement, among others, in the Bofors Indian Howitzer deal.
This is the curtain call, the end of the line for the recipients of the kickbacks who have fought hard for over five years to prevent this development in Switzerland.
The Swiss Supreme Court’s decision clears the way for the transfer of names to India.
Sources in Geneva said if India wanted, that process could be significantly speeded up.
The Indian Express has learned that threesome 600 documents with names and other details some sources put that figure at 1,000 which can shed full light on who got what and when of the illegal payments in the Bofors deal.
It may be recalled that the Swedish Company had paid several million dollars in kickbacks into secret and coded bank accounts in Switzerland to take the gun deal home. Among those linked to the payoffs is former Bofors agent Win Chadda, as well as prominent Indian business family, the Hindujas.
“The appellants will now try and block the transfer of the documents to India as a time buying effort. The imagination of the appellants had no limits, but there is a limit to the patience of the court finally, justice has carried the day,” said India’s counsel in Geneva Mare Bonnant.
The ball is now in the CBI’s court. The investigating agency has made no effort to speed up the process in Switzerland and even today, has not contacted officials to find out how they should proceed next.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 30, 1993
