Supreme Court closes chapter on Bofors case, rejects plea against Hindujas

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the 2005 Delhi High Court ruling in the Bofors case. The order leaves no further room to reopen proceedings against the Hinduja brothers and AB Bofors.

In Short

• Bench refused more time to amend petition after two respondents had died
• Justice Pardiwala questioned what issue survived after earlier rulings had settled matters
• High Court found major gaps in evidence linking accused to alleged commissions

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition challenging the 2005 Delhi High Court judgment that had quashed all criminal proceedings against the Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors in the politically sensitive Bofors case.

A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran declined to entertain the appeal filed by advocate Ajay K Agrawal's, effectively bringing to a close another attempt to revive proceedings in the decades-old case.

During the hearing, Agrawal sought four weeks' time to remove the names of Srichand P Hinduja and Gopichand P Hinduja from the petition, as both have passed away. The bench, however, refused to grant additional time, indicating that the matter could not be prolonged any further.

Questioning the purpose of continuing the litigation, Justice Pardiwala asked what remained to be adjudicated when the Delhi High Court had already quashed the proceedings in 2005 and the CBI's challenge to that verdict had also failed.

The Delhi High Court, in a landmark judgment delivered on May 31, 2005, had cleared Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja, along with AB Bofors, of all criminal charges. The court found serious deficiencies in the prosecution's evidence and held that the CBI had failed to establish any direct role of the Hinduja brothers in securing the 1986 gun deal or prove that the money allegedly received by them was linked to illegal commissions.

The High Court had noted that documents obtained by the CBI from Swedish authorities were neither original records nor authenticated copies. Relying on such unauthenticated material to prosecute the accused, the court observed, would amount to wasting public time and money and would be unfair to those facing trial.

The judgment also contained strong criticism of the CBI investigation, which reportedly cost the exchequer around Rs 250 crore. Following the ruling, the Hinduja brothers were discharged from the case and their bail bonds were ordered to be returned, ending a legal battle that had stretched for nearly 14 years.

The Supreme Court had earlier dealt another blow to efforts to revive the case when it dismissed the CBI's appeal against the High Court verdict in November 2018. The top court cited an unexplained delay of 4,522 days in filing the appeal.

The Bofors controversy traces its origins to a Rs 1,437-crore contract signed on March 24, 1986, between the Government of India and Swedish defence firm AB Bofors for the purchase of 400 howitzers. The deal erupted into a major political scandal in 1987 after Swedish Radio alleged that illegal commissions had been paid to Indian politicians and defence officials to secure the contract.

The Supreme Court's latest decision effectively shuts the door on any further challenge to the acquittal of the Hinduja brothers in the Bofors case.

- Ends