NEW DELHI, 26 February 2007 — With the March 7 deadline to seek the extradition of Ottavio Quattrocchi, a key accused in the Bofors-arms scandal, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is dispatching two officers to Argentina on Wednesday with relevant papers. As India does not have an extradition treaty with Argentina, “legal formalities required under Argentine law are being fulfilled,” the CBI said yesterday.
The CBI has apparently swung into action after External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee commented that he and his ministry would push through the extradition. The CBI has initiated the paperwork by asking the External Affairs Ministry to issue an extradition request to Argentina. With paper work expected to be completed by tomorrow, the two-member team will leave for Argentina on Wednesday, CBI sources said.
Facing an Interpol Red Corner Notice in connection with the Bofors case, at the behest of the CBI, Quattrocchi was detained and taken into preventive custody at Iguazu International Airport in Misiones Province in Argentina while in transit to Buenos Aires on Feb. 6. Interpol informed the CBI on Feb. 8. The CBI made the announcement on Feb. 23. Refuting allegations that the CBI deliberately held back the news of Quattrocchi’s detention, a senior CBI officer said: “We had more than 300 documents in Spanish which had to be translated into English. We roped in translators from the Jawaharlal Nehru University immediately and prepared our extradition request based on translated excerpts of these documents.”
The CBI is likely to hire a local firm in Argentina to handle the case of Quattrocchi’s detention. CBI’s case is likely to be presented before a court in Argentina by the country’s prosecutor general. If an Indian lawyer is permitted to appear by Argentinian authorities, India would also depute its own counsel.
Even if India and Argentina display all cooperation possible in bringing 69-year-old Quattrocchi to India, the CBI is mindful of certain hurdles that are likely to surface. Quattrocchi is an Italian national and Italian law does not permit extradition of its nationals to third countries to face trial.
In addition to the two members leaving on Wednesday, the CBI is keeping a few other officials in readiness to travel to Argentina if needed. There is also the possibility of the External Affairs Ministry deputing a liaison officer with the CBI team, sources said.
Known to be earlier close to the Gandhi family, Quattrocchi faces charges of having received kickbacks from Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors for the contract to sell 155mm Howitzer guns to the Indian Army. He has been wanted by CBI since 1993, when at the height of the Bofors-probe, Quattrocchi managed to leave India. He has been missing since 2002 when a Malaysian lower court had rejected the extradition request of India and allowed him to travel abroad. Now, speculations are being voiced on whether Quattrocchi’s detention will reveal the truth about the Bofors-scandal. Considering that Quattrocchi has been on the run for more than a decade, it is also being debated whether he has deliberately handed himself in, to be finally deported to his country Italy.
There could perhaps be a link in his detention, the timing of the CBI declaring the same and the presence of his son, Massimo Quattrocchi, in the capital city during the same period. Quattrocchi Jr had checked in at a posh hotel here on Feb. 19 and was there till Feb. 21.
