Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 7: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking to revive criminal proceedings in the decades-old Bofors case, effectively upholding the 2005 Delhi High Court judgment that had quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors.

A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran refused to entertain the appeal filed by advocate Ajay K. Agrawal, bringing to an end another attempt to reopen the politically sensitive case.

During the hearing, Agrawal sought four weeks' time to remove the names of late industrialists Srichand P. Hinduja and Gopichand P. Hinduja from the petition. The bench declined the request, observing that the matter could not be prolonged further.

Questioning the need to continue the litigation, Justice Pardiwala noted that the Delhi High Court had already quashed the proceedings in 2005 and the CBI's challenge to that verdict had subsequently failed.

In its May 31, 2005 judgment, the Delhi High Court cleared Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja, along with AB Bofors, of all criminal charges. The court 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 also observed that documents obtained from Swedish authorities were neither original records nor authenticated copies, and criticised the prosecution for relying on such material. It remarked that pursuing the case on the basis of unauthenticated evidence would amount to wasting public resources and would be unfair to the accused.

The judgment further criticised the CBI's 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 returned, ending a legal battle that had continued for nearly 14 years.

In November 2018, the Supreme Court had dismissed the CBI's appeal against the Delhi High Court verdict, citing an unexplained delay of 4,522 days in filing the appeal.

The Bofors controversy stemmed from a Rs 1,437-crore agreement signed on March 24, 1986, between the Government of India and Swedish defence firm AB Bofors for the purchase of 400 howitzers. The deal became one of India's biggest political scandals in 1987 after allegations surfaced that illegal commissions had been paid to Indian politicians and defence officials to secure the contract.

With the Supreme Court's latest order, the legal proceedings concerning the acquittal of the Hinduja brothers in the Bofors case have effectively come to a close.