New Delhi: Even as the BJP is raking up the Bofors kickback case of 80’s and the involvement of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the scam, the CBI has moved a city court to withdraw its pending application of February 2018 for permission to further probe the Rs 64-crore payoff.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Naveen Kashyap said it was ok with him if the CBI wants to withdraw the application, but he questioned the locus standi of Supreme Court lawyer Ajay Agrawal who had also moved the court for a probe; in fact, this matter is fixed for hearing him July 6.
Aggarwal, who had contested against Sonia Gandhi in 2014 as a BJP candidate, has recently fallen out with the party. His appeal against the Delhi High Court verdict of May 31, 2005, discharging all accused is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Taking note of the CBI’s stand on Thursday, the judge said: “For reason best known to the CBI, in case they want to withdraw the application, they have the right as they are the applicants.” This is, however, not a final closure of the case as the CBI told the court that it would on its own decide the further course of action.
On February 1, 2018, the CBI had sought the court’s permission for a further probe on the ground that it had come across fresh material and evidence. The very next day it had appealed in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s verdict of May 31, 2005, discharging all the accused in the case, including three Hinduja brothers.
