An application
has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an early hearing of a petition
challenging the Delhi High Court's 2005 verdict which quashed all charges,
including those against the Hinduja brothers, in the politically sensitive Rs
64 crore Bofors pay-off case.
The application,
filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal, says the apex court had on November 2, 2018
dismissed the CBI's plea against the high court verdict and said the probe
agency can raise all grounds in the appeal filed by him against the same
judgement.
Agrawal said he
had filed the petition in the top court against the high court verdict in 2005
itself and over three decades have gone by since the matter came to light.
"Around 16
years have passed of filing of this case by the applicant and 35 years have
passed of the occurring of this scam. All the accused persons have died in
between leaving Hinduja Brothers.
"There have
been recurrence of scams in defence sector since the accused in this first ever
scam i.e Bofors scam have not been punished. It is expedient in the interest of
justice that the matter be heard at an early date," the plea said.
In its November
2, 2018 order, the top court had rejected the CBI plea seeking condonation of
13-year delay in filing the appeal against the May 31, 2005 judgement of the
high court, saying it is not convinced with the grounds furnished by the
agency.
"We are not
convinced with the grounds furnished by the petitioner for the inordinate delay
of 4,522 days in filing the present Special Leave Petitions," the apex
court had said in its order.
The high court
had in its 2005 judgement quashed all charges against the three Hinduja
brothers -- S P Hinduja, G P Hinduja and P P Hinduja -- and the Bofors company.
Before the 2005
verdict, the high court had on February 4, 2004 exonerated former prime
minister Rajiv Gandhi in the case and directed the framing of charge of forgery
under section 465 of the Indian Penal Code against AB Bofors, formerly a
Swedish arms manufacturing company which is now part of BAE Systems of the UK.