The US Department of Justice has been asked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to obtain information from private investigator Michael Hershman, who has expressed his willingness to share sensitive information with Indian companies in the Rs 64 crore Bofors scam. This news report explains the background to this.
The Bofors scam is one of the most significant scandals in the political and military history of independent India. India decided to buy Swedish Bofors guns for the Indian Army.
In 1986, during the reign of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, a deal was signed to buy 410 Bofors guns worth Rs 1,437 crore. It is worth mentioning that this was the largest military arms deal ever given to Sweden.
On April 16, 1987, Swedish Radio reported that in this Bofors deal, bribes of Rs.64 crore were paid to top Indian politicians and senior military officials.
The Bofors affair created a stir not only in Indian politics but also in the Swedish political arena. Due to this corruption allegation, the then Defence Minister of India, V.P.Singh, resigned from his post. As a result, V.P. Singh turned against Rajiv Gandhi.
In the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress suffered a crushing defeat due to the Bofors scandal. Although the Janata Dal Party won only 89 seats, V.P.Singh became the seventh Prime Minister of India. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Parties provided external support to the V.P. Singh government.
The CBI, which registered the Bofors scandal case in 1990, started the investigation. It was only after the Vajpayee-led government came to power that the investigation of this corruption case was carried out rapidly.
In 1999 and 2000, charge sheets were filed by the CBI in the Delhi High Court in the Bofors scandal case. These indictments also charged former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, former Defence Secretary S.K.Bhatnagar, and middlemen Otaroyo Kotarochchi and Vinsatta.
The Bofors scam case was dismissed by the Delhi High Court. Later, the CBI’s appeal was also dismissed by the Delhi High Court.
In 2004, Rajiv Gandhi was acquitted of the case after a verdict was reached that Rajiv Gandhi had nothing to do with the scam. A Delhi special court dismissed all charges against the remaining accused, including the charges against the Hinduja brothers.
Quattrocchi was also acquitted when the court allowed the CBI’s request to withdraw the case. The Supreme Court also dismissed the CBI’s appeal in the Bofors scam case. The Bofors case, which turned Indian politics upside down, was closed in 2011.
It was in this context that Michael Hershman, chairman of the Fairfax Group, came to India to attend a conference of private detectives (Firmfax) in 2017. During his stay in India, he had accused the Congress government of not properly conducting the investigation into the Bofors scam.
Michael Hershman had said that Rajiv Gandhi was angry when he saw the details of a Swiss bank account called ‘Mont Blanc’. It was in this account that bribe money related to the Bofors deal was said to be kept. He also assured the Central Bureau of Investigation that he was ready to share important documents related to the Bofors scam with the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In November and December 2023, and in May and August last year, the CBI had sent letters and reminders to the US authorities to obtain information related to the case. But no information or response was received from the US.
In this context, the CBI has sent a Letter Rogatory (LR) to the US Department of Justice. A Letter Rogatory (LR) is a written request sent by a court of one country to a court of another country to obtain information that will help in the investigation of a criminal matter.
A Delhi special court has issued a request to obtain case details from Michael Hershman, the chairman of US-based private investigation firm Fairfax, in connection with the Bofors case.
With this move by the CBI, the Bofors scam case, which took place 38 years ago during the Rajiv Gandhi regime, has been dusted off again.
Political observers say that Rajiv Gandhi’s involvement in the Bofors scam case and the corrupt face of the Congress party will soon come to light.
