Delhi court defers order in Quattrocchi case

A Delhi court on Saturday deferred the pronouncement of its order on a plea by an advocate opposing Central Bureau of Investigation's move to withdraw the two-decade-old Bofors pay-off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja posted the matter for further proceedings on August 28 in view of the case records lying with the Supreme Court.

Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra, appearing for CBI, submitted before the court that the probe agency has filed an application in the apex court seeking its direction to send back the case records to the trial court.

The CBI application is likely to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on next Tuesday, he said.

Advocate Ajay Agrawal, who filed an application before the court opposing CBI's decision to withdraw the case against 70-year-old Quattrocchi, contended that the original records relating to the case were sent to the Supreme Court in a separate matter in which a few accused were discharged by the Delhi high court.

After hearing the submissions of Agrawal and the CBI, the court adjourned the matter. The court had earlier on eight occasions deferred the pronouncement of its order.

The court had deferred the hearings on October 9, November 6 and 24 last year and March 31, April 17, May 15, July 5 this year. Quattrocchi, the sole surviving accused in the case after the Delhi high court quashed the charges on May 31, 2005, against other accused, has never appeared before any court in the country.

The CBI had on October 3 filed a plea in the court seeking withdrawal of case against Quattrocchi. The court had since then deferred the hearing on the matter.

CBI had failed on two occasions in its attempt to get Quattrocchi extradited -- first from Malaysia in 2003 and then from Argentina in 2007. In November last year, the agency had asked the Interpol to take Quattrocchi's name off the Red Corner notice list.