The Centre’s decision to withdraw the case against the Italian businessman, Ottavio Quattrocchi, the only surviving accused in the 1987 Bofors payoffs case, is unfortunate and deplorable. It is because of the successive failed attempts of the CBI to get the accused extradited from Malaysia and from Argentina that the 1997 warrant against Mr Quattrocchi has lost its validity.
Now, the CBI is going to file an application for the closure of the case. Going back on its commitment to one of the country’s prolonged and worst cases (for which crores of rupees were spent) is definitely a kind of negligence of duty on the part of the CBI. This has raised a serious question: Has the CBI lost its powers at the behest of the political class?
P Senthil Sarvana Durai, Hyderabad
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