Will Truth Be Out At Last?

It is possible, just possible, that finally the Bofors case may actuallybe cracked. Mr Ottavio Quattrocchi is in Argentinean custody. He was detained not because of Indian authorities but in spite of them. Consider the facts revealed till now. 

On February 6th Mr Quattrocchi was detained at an airport in Argentina following a red corner alert issued by Interpol. On February 8th Interpol informed CBI. The CBI did not publicize the information. Later its spokesmen explained away the silence by informing media that they wanted to make sure about the identity of the person detained! They admitted that the detention was a complete surprise and attributed it to chance. They said that in the past European nations had refused to cooperate with CBI even when Mr Quattrocchi's whereabouts were known. 

The delay in revealing the news was also attributed to the difficulty in translating documents that were written in Spanish! How long does it take to get Spanish translated in Delhi? Clearly the authorities were mulling over what to do with the bombshell that had been dumped on them.

On February 13th the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Mr Shivraj Patil held a discussion on the Quattrocchi detention. After that meeting the PM's Principal Secretary, Mr TKA Nair, briefed the CBI director. For ten days subsequently nothing more was heard. India has no extradition treaty with Argentina . March 8th is the last date by when India's application for extraditing Mr Quattrocchi could be entertained. If the news had not leaked out is it conceivable that it might have died a quiet death? There seemed to be a tug of war within the government over how to handle the issue. 

Eventually the news broke on Friday the 23rd. It was leaked out by CBI sources themselves. What persuaded the CBI to break the news over which it had successfully kept mum for a fortnight and which would have become infructuous after Mach 8th? One reason could be divided views within the government. It might be recalled that on February 12 th the media speculated that the PMO Principal Secretary, Mr TKA Nair, wanted to quit his job and make way for the Cabinet Secretary to replace him. Just one day after this report appeared the PM's formal meeting with his senior colleagues was held to discuss the Quattrocchi issue. Immediately after that Mr Nair briefed the CBI director. Subsequently the CBI formally requested MEA to proceed with the extradition application. 

Apart from possible division within the government there is another complication. To blanket out the news till March 8th and then obfuscate the issue with disinformation would have been a daunting process even for a government as brazen as this. The CBI Director, Mr Vijay Shankar, would surely have recognized this. He is an elected delegate of the 13-member Executive Committee of Interpol. If no adequate follow-up action is taken how will he face his colleagues during the next Interpol executive meeting to be held between March and July? The globalization of investigation in the Bofors case could possibly tie the hands of the UPA government. 

The CBI's record in the probe up till now has been of course scandalous. In April 1998 the CBI in a court affidavit had in no unambiguous terms nailed Mr Quattrocchi and the late Rajiv Gandhi for being involved in the scam. But in early 2006 the same CBI stated that it had no evidence to link Mr Quattrocchi with the Bofors bribes. Thereby it allowed his frozen London bank deposits to be withdrawn. It may be pointed out of course that in 1998 and 2006 two very different parties headed the government. Now, can sustained official efforts to cover up the truth enable the Bofors case be buried once again? Enhanced global scrutiny of this case is a new element. Possibly, it prevented the news of Mr Quattrocchi's detention from being buried. Conceivably, in the future it might prevent the probe from being derailed. Globalization has its own logic. 

Had President Zail Singh approved the petition to prosecute Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1989, India's recent history would have been different. Things have changed since then. Mr VP Singh then was claiming that he had possession of Rajiv Gandhi's bank account in which bribes had been deposited. Now he is issuing certificates of innocence to the dynasty in the Bofors scandal. He is, of course, also helping Mrs Sonia Gandhi in trying to demolish Mr Mulayam Singh. Mr Amitabh Bachchan during those days was as thick as thieves with the Gandhis – sorry, change that to thick as blood brothers. Now he is daggers drawn with the dynasty. People fluctuate. But truth remains constant. Eventually it does come out – even if it takes years, decades, or centuries. Has the time for the truth about the Bofors probe arrived? If so, its impact on the future politics of India could be more far-reaching than most people might imagine.

Rajinder Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com