'the Last Nail In The Coffin Of The Judicial Process'

'The Last Nail In The Coffin Of The Judicial Process' 'I hold Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi directly responsible for colluding in this conspiracy to bury the truth about Bofors' ... L.K. Advani

I have seen in today’s Indian Express the lead report titled In last days of Congress-led government, Ottavio Quattrocchi is off CBI’s wanted list. It states that the "Attorney General calls Red Corner Notice against Italian businessman an ‘embarrassment’, says ‘cannot remain in force forever’." This is the latest in a long series of the UPA government’s shameful acts of misuse of governmental institutions, CBI in particular, for crass partisan ends. Everybody knows that the Bofors scam has been the most political explosive corruption scandal in independent India’s history. In 1989, it led to the downfall of Rajiv Gandhi’s government, which was voted out in spite of winning a massive majority in Parliament in 1984. Ever since the Bofors scam surfaced in April 1987, the Congress party has done everything to prevent the truth from coming out. Under pressure from 10 Janpath, the government of P.V. Narasimha Rao allowed Quattrocchi to flee India. However, the most brazen acts of subversion of justice were seen in the tenure of the UPA government. It first allowed de-freezing the bank account of Quattrocchi, the Italian middleman who is the principal accused in the scandal and one known for his proximity to Sonia Gandhi’s family and hence to 10 Janpath. It later allowed him to go scot-free after having been arrested in Argentina. The last nail in the coffin of the judicial process is the latest news that the UPA government wants Quattrocchi’s name off the CBI’s "Wanted" list. I condemn this decision of the UPA government in the strongest possible terms. I hold Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress president Smt. Sonia Gandhi directly responsible for colluding in this conspiracy to bury the truth about Bofors. It is obvious that he and his government have acted under instructions from 10 Janpath. His silence over the past five years on the systematic misuse of the CBI and the law ministry confirms his guilt. It also confirms my assessment that he is a weak and unworthy Prime Minister who has devalued his high office by making it subservient to the diktats of 10 Janpath. For this and other sins, the Congress party will be punished by the electorate in the same way as in 1989. In this context, I wish to make another important point. The BJP has pledged to bring back enormous Indian wealth illegally stashed away in secret Swiss bank accounts and other tax havens. It is worth noting that the kickbacks paid in the Bofors scandal were also deposited in secret Swiss bank accounts. Rattled by the huge public support to the BJP’s initiative, some Congress

leaders are now saying in muted voices that they too are attempting to bring this money back. However, the contrast between the BJP and Congress can be clearly seen in the diametrically opposite stands of the two parties on the Bofors issue. How can the Congress leadership, which has allowed the main Bofors scamster to run away with crores of bribe money parked in a foreign bank, be trusted to bring back Indian wealth hoarded in tax havens abroad?