Malaysia's highest court on Wednesday rejected India's request to review a lower court ruling dismissing its plea for the extradition of Italian businessman Octavio Quattrocchi to stand trial in the Bofors payoff case.
The court upheld notice of motion filed by Quattrocchi's lawyer seeking dismissal of India's right of appeal. The three-judge bench of the court of appeal also quashed its earlier order asking Quattrocchi to surrender his passport. The judgment was pronounced by Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad.
India, through the Malaysian Attorney General, had moved the highest court after the high court in Kuala Lumpur rejected the plea for Quattrocchi's extradition to India saying that the offences alleged against him were 'open to doubt'.
On December 13 last, Kuala Lumpur high court judge Augustine Paul, while dismissing India's petition for review of the Sessions Court verdict throwing out the extradition case, said, "The offences of (cheating and corruption) alleged to have been committed by Quattrocchi in India are open to doubt."
"In my view the failure to supply the court and the respondent with the charges is fatal," said Judge Paul upholding dismissal of India's plea by the sessions court on the ground that the descriptions of the offences in the requisition papers were 'insufficient, vague and unambiguous'.
Quattrocchi left Kuala Lumpur for Italy even as Malaysia's highest court on December 16 last asked him to surrender his passport pending the Indian appeal against the high court ruling.