The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for implying that the Indian legal system was harassing Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi and internationally embarrassing the Centre.
Now that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has named Mr. Quattrocchi as one of the beneficiaries of kickbacks from the Bofors howitzer deal, Dr. Singh must apologise for implying that the Italian businessman was being harassed for no wrong done by him, party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said here on Tuesday.
Mr. Prasad said the Prime Minister had said: “It is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people and that Quattrocchi case is an embarrassment for the government of India.”
Contrary to finding
Without giving any detail on when the Prime Minister made this statement and where it was reported, Mr. Prasad said: “This statement of the Prime Minister was widely reported in the media today [Tuesday] and the elaborate finding of ITAT is completely to the contrary.” For this reason, the Prime Minister must apologise, he said.
