Quattrocchi out of CBI list of wanted people

New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) Italian businessman Ottavio
Quattrocchi, an accused in the Bofors payoffs case, has been
taken off India's premier investigative agency Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) list of wanted people, sparking a
protest by Opposition parties which Tuesday demanded an
immediate probe into the working of the agency in the last
five years.

Following a communication from the CBI, the Interpol has
taken Quattrocchi's name off the Red Corner notice list in
which it lingered for the last one decade.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate
L K Advani said, "This is a very serious issue. It is not a
question of Quattrocchi alone but the entire role of the
agency during the last five years which should be probed".

Putting up a brave defence, the Government said it had
no role to play in the move by the agency which took the
decision on the basis of a legal opinion given by Attorney
General Milon Banerjee in October last year.

CBI spokesman Harsh Bahal said, "The case has been under
trial in the courts since 1999. CBI has taken action on the
basis of legal advice of the highest order. We will inform the
competent court on the next date of hearing (April 30, 2009)."

Describing BJP's allegation as politically motivated,
Union Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj said the CBI acted on the
opinion provided by the Attorney General.

"This is a politically motivated allegation. The
Government has no role in the judicial process....law will
take its own course," Bhardwaj told reporters here.

CBI had approached Attorney General last year for an
opinion as to whether to continue with the Red Corner notice
issued by Interpol against Quattrocchi as the notice has to be
renewed every five years.

Banerjee cited inability of CBI to seek Quattrocchi's
extradition on two occasions --first in Malaysia in 2003 and
then in Argentina in 2007--and opined that the judgements in
both the cases indicated that there were no good grounds for
extradition.

"....The warrant cannot remain in force forever.
Therefore, the warrant of February 1997 would lose its
validity, particularly in view of successive failed attempts
of the CBI to get the accused extradited from Malaysia and
recently from Argentina," Banerjee, the country's top law
officer, said.

The Italian businessman, in his mid-60's, was named by
the CBI in 1999 as an accused and, on the basis of a 1997
non-bailable warrant, it had sought a Red Corner notice
against him.

Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said if there
was any proof against the Italian businessman, why didn't the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government take it up
during its rule.

"We have nothing to do with Quattrocchi. The Bofors case
has been in the public for over two decades. If there was any
proof of his involvement in the scam, the NDA which ruled the
country for seven years should have taken some steps," he
said.

Left parties also slammed the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government for dropping Quattrocchi's from the
Red Corner Notice list, saying it was the "latest episode of
misuse" of CBI for serving Congress' "political interests".

CPI National Secretary D Raja said it is up to the
government and the CBI to explain its position on the matter
which has generated "a lot of controversy".

"The role of CBI is questioned in a number of
instances. It is now for the government and the CBI to explain
the position," Raja told PTI over phone from Chennai.

Terming it as the "latest episode in the misuse of CBI
for the political interests of the CBI", Forward Bloc National
Secretary D Deverajan said that it has "revealed the ugly
face" of Congress.

"It clearly indicates that the Congress has done
something wrong in Bofors case and Quattrocchi is a major
player in it," Deverajan, who is campaigning in Kolkata, said.