The CBI trips over itself in the latest Quattrocchi goof-up<a > Updates</a>
Now, going back in time, it must be noted that during the 17-year-old investigation non-Congress governments too failed to nail Quattrocchi. During the NDA regime, the CBI could not secure Quattrocchi's extradition from Malaysia. Union science and technology minister Kapil Sibal, who's fast emerging as the UPA's chief legal spokesperson, focuses on the Vajpayee government's response when Quattrocchi was arrested in '99. He says though news of the detention came on October 22, 1999, the NDA government took a little over four months (on March 7, 2000) to seek his extradition. "Compare this with the UPA...in less than a month, we are flying a team to Buenos Aires to seek Quattrocchi's extradition," Sibal stresses. But this does not quite explain the 17-day silence on the arrest or the snail-paced approach in the matter when it was aware of a 30-day deadline.
Anyway, the CBI subsequently lost its case in Malaysia. Sibal alleges this is because it mounted a weak defence, forcing the court there to observe that the charges were "duplicitous, vague and ambiguous", that it was impossible to admit the case as there was no proper description of the offences, not even a "summary of facts". Finally, the Kuala Lumpur court rejected the request for extradition on the grounds that it could not do so on the basis of "mere suspicion". The BJP's "real motivation", Sibal concluded, "was not to pin down Quattrocchi, but to keep the issue alive so that it can make political capital".
Clearly, as long as the case is not concluded honourably, Mr Q will continue to be a source of embarrassment for Sonia Gandhi. Visits to India— innocent or otherwise—by members of his family will continue to create suspicion. So, was it a coincidence that Quattrocchi's son Massimo was in India between February 13-22, at the same time when Italian PM Romano Prodi was in the country? Was it another coincidence that Massimo was spotted at the birthday celebrations of a prominent BJD MP's sister-in-law? Perhaps, and perhaps not, but till the Q affair is laid to rest, there will always be room for suspicion.