Arun Jaitley, former law minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and official spokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has alleged that the Rs 64 crore Bofors gun kickbacks case has been given a judicial burial.
He was commenting upon the judgement of Justice R S Sodhi of the Delhi high court who had quashed the charges against the three Hinduja brothers -- G P Hinduja, S P Hinduja and P P Hinduja -- on the ground of insufficient evidence.
The brothers had moved the Delhi high court against the order of the trial court, which had framed the charges against them.
"The judgement of the Delhi high court quashing the charges against some more accused persons in the Bofors case is a glaring example of a judicial burial of a corruption case that had shaken the conscience of the entire nation," Jaitley mentioned in a written handout distributed to mediapersons in New Delhi on Wednesday.
"The judicial discovery that Rs 250 crore was spent on the investigation is not based on any fact or a calculated figure in the government. How did this figure enter the judgement?" asked Jaitley.
"The Central Bureau of Investigation should explain how much money was spent on the investigations. According to me, the sum that was spent was not even 1/10th of the figure quoted in the judgement. At best it could be put around Rs 8 to 10 crore," he said.
He wondered why the CBI had not challenged the earlier decision of Justice J D Kapoor of the Delhi high court who had quashed the charges against the public servants, while allowing the prosecution to proceed against the other accused.
"Once this judgement became final and the case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was quashed, only the case of cheating remained. The burial of that case was inevitable," he said.
He accused the investigating agency of being in collusion with the accused persons and helping them out of a tight corner by not appealing against the erroneous judgements.
Asked if the BJP would build up pressure and ensure that the judgement of the Delhi high court is challenged in the Supreme Court, Jaitley said that the BJP would do this.
Complete Coverage: Bofors: The Smoking Gun