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Congress to raise Bofors in Parliament

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Congress today indicated that it was likely to stall proceedings in both Houses of Parliament tomorrow over the government's "mala fide move" to mention Rajiv Gandhi's name in the second column of the Bofors chargesheet.

"A dead man cannot be heard by the courts, so how can the government accuse him? Rajivji is no more and so when he is not present in court, the trial is vitiated," thundered party spokesman Kapil Sibal.

Party president Sonia Gandhi insisted her late husband was innocent. She said there was nothing substantial in the chargesheet and the government had deliberately included his name to malign him and continue with the "besmirching campaign". She warned that her party would give a fitting reply to these attempts in Parliament.

Sibal said he was convinced that the National Democratic Alliance government headed by Vajpayee is "playing politics and dragging an innocent man's name simply as a vindictive move".

Sibal said that to his knowledge, there was no other instance of a dead man being named as an accused in a chargesheet.

"The Congress will certainly not be an idle spectator and will carry out a political battle against the government until it removes Rajiv's name from the second column of the chargesheet," he added.

"Just wait and see," he told a reporter who wanted to know whether the Congress would stall parliamentary proceedings from tomorrow on the issue.

Pointing out that he was convinced of the government's mala fides after watching a television programme yesterday, Sibal said an accused is always given the document to show what charges have been made against him. He referred to Article 21 of the Constitution, which says no person can be deprived of his liberty. But since the former prime minister is dead, the Vajpayee government has dragged his name and mentioned it in the second column, showing its true colours.

"The people cannot be fooled. The government has to answer them why for 10 years it did not interrogate Rajiv Gandhi in the Bofors case, though now it has suddenly mentioned his name," he said.

Sibal contended that Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley had yesterday admitted that the government could not build the Bofors case without mentioning Gandhi's name.

He referred to section 273 of the CrPC and emphasised that under it evidence has to be recorded in the presence of the accused. "Despite knowing this, the government has gone ahead and filed the chargesheet including our leader's name. It reveals the vindictive nature of this government," he said.

Sibal warned that the Congress would not co-operate with the government until "Rajiv's name is deleted from column two of the chargesheet".

He, however, said that if the other accused like Win Chhadha and Ottavio Quattrocchi are guilty, the Congress does not have any objection to the law taking its course.

He wondered why the prime minister did not wait for the sixth account in the Bofors case to be revealed, though Vajpayee had earlier said he would do so before his government filed the chargesheet. "You can see the ulterior motive and mala fide intent of this government," he repeated.

Sibal said the draft nuclear document had not been circulated among the MPs for debate, though the government claims to have done so. "There is divergence of opinion even among the members of the National Security Council on the draft nuclear document," he said.

Sibal said the Vajpayee government had also not given the parameters of its population policy about which it talks so much.

He pointed out that while talking about its agriculture policy, the government was evading the issue of agricultural production. Also, its new civil aviation policy is yet to draw billions of dollars of foreign investments as the government had been claiming. Sibal said the Congress would grill the prime minister and his Cabinet colleagues on these issues.

The Bofors Scandal

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