A day after the Indian government withdrew its case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors payoff issue, Union Law Minister Veerapa Moily today said that New Delhi had examined all possibilities and “found nothing was positive” in the matter.
“The case is going on since very long... If Quattrocchi could be brought back or any conviction could be held... And the case could be pursued with a positive result. All this has been examined. But ultimately it was found that nothing was positive...,” Mr. Moily was quoted as saying by the TV channels.
Pointing out to a court ruling in 2002 which termed the case “a waste of time,” Mr. Moily said the then ruling BJP-led NDA coalition had not filed any appeal in the case during its tenure.
The Law Minister also lauded the “positive role” of the CBI in the case, an issue which the Opposition alleges that the UPA government had misused the intelligence agency.
“There was no appeal at all filed during the NDA regime. Thereafter, the case went to the CBI which has taken all together 22 years... They have been playing a positive role,” he said.
Rejecting Opposition’s charges of protecting Mr. Quattrocchi, he said, “it is not a question of protecting. We are not interested, we are least interested in Quattrocchi...”
“The Attorney General, the Solicitor General and our law officers and also the CBI, everybody feels that there is no basis for proceeding. There is no point in proceeding just to satisfy the Opposition.”
