Author: Agencies
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: January 4, 2011
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjp-trains-guns-on-pm-for-defending-quattrocchi/733277/0
Training its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on the Bofors pay offs scandal, BJP today demanded that he apologise
for defending Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi.
"Mr PM, you tried to give a clean chit
to Quattrocchi", BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters
here adding this has been found to be false by an income tax tribunal which
said that kickbacks of Rs.41 crore were paid to Quattrocchi and Win Chaddha
in the controversial Howitzer gun deal.
The principal opposition used Singh's recent
statement that Ceasar's wife should be above suspicion to attack him for defending
Quattrochi.
"His comment exonerating Quattrochi having
been found to be false by a competent Tribunal. Would the Prime Minister now
stand up to his own benchmark and apologise to the nation? Prasad asked.
Prasad referred to Singh's remarks that "It
is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass people
and that Quattrocchi case is an embarrassment for the Government of India."
Taking on the Prime Minister, Prasad alleged that the Congress-led government
believes in "first messing up the entire investigation" and then
say there is no case.
BJP claimed that Quattrochi is very close
to the Gandhi family and posed some questions to Singh and Congress President
Sonia Gandhi.
"When UPA came to power the then Additional
Solicitor General B Dutta went to London in January 2006 and falsely represented
before the authorities that no case is pending against Quattrocchi and the
account be de-freezed. It was done accordingly and huge amount of taxpayers'
money was withdrawn.
Under whose pressure this was done?"
Prasad said.
He alleged that "collusive legal advise"
for this was given under the supervision of then Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj.
Every effort was made by the Congress to scuttle
the investigations and save Quattrrochi, he said.
"A big powerful hidden hand was always
available to bail Quattrochi out," Prasad said, in an apparent reference
to the Gandhi family.
"The Attorney General, again gave a collusive
advise that because Delhi High Court order has become final therefore there
is no point in continuing the red corner notice against Quattrocchi,"
he said.
Prasad charged that this advice was given
under pressure from the Gandhi family.
"All this clearly shows that the entire
machinery of the government was trying to help him and bail him out at different
stages. All this because he enjoyed high patronage owing to his proximity
to the Gandhi family," he said.
BJP insisted that in view of the Tribunal's
decision that Quattrochi and AE Services owner Win Chaddha had received kickbacks
in the Bofors gun deal and evaded taxes on these pay-offs, the case should
be re-opened and the matter be investigated by a Special Investigation Team.
"The Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi
both owe an explanation to the nation as to why this was allowed to happen?"
Prasad said.
