NEW DELHI, 11 April 2004 — The Central Bureau of Investigation yesterday said it would probe fresh revelations in the Bofors case. And if necessary, Sonia Gandhi will be interrogated.
“We are examining the facts and if new leads emerge, we will go ahead with our investigation,” said agency director U.S. Mishra.
Asked about Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s alleged links with Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors deal, he said: “I cannot answer that now. If the allegations are true and if we find it necessary we will scrutinize these links.”
The Bofors case has resurfaced after the publication of a report in a newspaper in which principal Swedish investigator in the case, Sten Lindstrom, said Gandhi and Quattrocchi needed to be quizzed in connection with the deal.
Following the report, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said the CBI would be asked to investigate the matter.
Meanwhile, a book claiming to “scrutinize” Gandhi’s foreign origins was released here. “Sonia Under Scrutiny” examines the legal, political, social, constitutional and security implications of Gandhi becoming the prime minister of India,” said journalist A. Surya Prakash, its editor.
The book, published by India First Foundation, was released by M.J. Akbar, editor-in-chief of Asian Age which carried the Lindstrom article.
Akbar said his releasing the book had nothing to do with the publication of the article in his paper. “I had agreed to release the book eight months ago,” he said. About the timing of the article, Akbar said “the timing was chosen by the policeman (Lindstrom) who wanted to give the story.”
Janata Dal (United) leader Jaya Jaitley, who contributed to the book, said: “Gandhi still has one leg in Italy as demonstrated by the fact that she still has property there.”
S. Gurumurthy, a journalist and another contributor, said Congress should answer why it took Gandhi 15 years to surrender her Italian passport. “There are no records to show whether she has yet applied to give up Italian citizenship,” he said.
Gandhi is expected to reply to questions posed by the BJP on the multimillion dollar Bofors scam. According to Ram Jethmalani, lawyer for the Hindujas in the case, Sonia will give a fitting reply.
Congress has demanded an apology from Vajpayee for maligning Gandhi by suggesting the CBI look into in the case afresh.
Stepping up its attack on Gandhi, the BJP said yesterday her silence on the issue indicated a “desire for concealment” and her party wanted to “hide behind legalism”.
“The right to silence may be available to an accused in the court but not to political persons, before the people, particularly those who aspire to hold high offices,” party spokesman and Law Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here.
He said: “The strange silence is not an evidence of ignorance as it is becoming more eloquent, which indicates a desire for concealment and seeks to avoid embarrassment of disclosure.”
Jaitley said the people wanted to know how close was she to Quattrocchi, why he was allowed to escape from India and why the Bofors deal was influenced. He regretted the fact that instead of Gandhi responding to the charges, two lawyers (Ram Jethmalani and Kapil Sibal), who were attorneys for the alleged recipients (Hindujas) of the kickbacks, were doing all the talking.
Campaigning for Congress in the forthcoming elections, Gandhi’s son Rahul said: “Every time, I or my sister Priyanka go out to campaign, there are two issues which always crop up — the trumped up charge of Bofors and that irrelevant issue of foreign origin.
“These things have no meaning any more. The opposition should find new issues to fight us.”
