The Hindu : National : Sonia should break her silence, says Jaitley

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 09, 2004

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National

Sonia should break her silence, says Jaitley

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI, APRIL 8. The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was today restrained in his comments on the latest news reports on Bofors but the Union Law Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson, Arun Jaitley, wanted the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to answer some questions and "break her silence'' on the matter saying "political propriety demanded this.''

Mr. Vajpayee was asked what he had to say on the latest revelations on Bofors at a function here today where he released the National Democratic Alliance agenda for governance. His answer was: "The matter is in the court where the proceedings are going on. Some new facts have come up and I believe the Central Bureau of Investigation will look into it.''

Mr. Jaitley, who later held a separate press briefing, at the BJP central office where he posed several questions on Ms. Gandhi's "family relationship" with one of the accused in the Bofors case, Ottavia Quattrocchi.

Should Ms. Gandhi be questioned by the CBI as suggested by the Swedish police officer, Sten Lindstrom? Mr. Jaitley said the matter was in the public domain and as a "matter of political propriety, Ms. Gandhi, who is aspiring for high political office in India, should break her silence and come out with the truth.''

Asked why the CBI had not filed a chargesheet against her if she had "connived" in the matter, Mr. Jaitley said there was no evidence against her. "The CBI files chargesheets only on legal evidence. I am raising questions about political propriety... I am not here on legal culpability but on political propriety.'' He also indicated that the Delhi High Court had said that there was no evidence against the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, when in fact there were no charges filed against him.

Mr. Jaitley said that while he did not want to cast any doubts on the quality of the Bofors gun, he did want to know how A.E. Services, controlled by Quattrocchi, jumped into the contract at the "last minute." "Why was A.E. Services so sure of its ability to swing the contract with Noble Industries that it made the payment of commission to it contingent on the contract being signed on or before March 31, 1986,'' Mr. Jaitley asked, and pointed out that the contract was indeed signed just four days before that date.

He wanted to know the "family relationship'' of Ms. Gandhi with Quattrocchi and his wife. And why was his passport not confiscated, why was he allowed to escape even after the Swiss authorities informed India about Quattrocchi being a recipient of kickbacks in the Bofors case? Who was the "Gandhi trustee lawyer'' referred to by Mr. Lidstrom?

Mr. Jaitley did admit that there was "no legal case'' against Ms. Gandhi, but there was the "political issue'' since she was aspiring for "high office.'' He said the latest news reports had emphasised that at various points there were "pressures from India'' which had hampered the work of the Swedish prosecutor, and again, "pressures from India'' led to the Swedish National Audit Bureau giving "blanks'' instead of "vital information''. Finally, when a Bofors team had arrived in India to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, a few officials talked to them and they refused to divulge information to these officials, he said.

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