Government departments specialise in circular movements leading nowhere to please the government of the day. But the CBI surely takes the cake in its recent claims of still investigating the Bofors case. In 2011, the HC had discharged all accused of conspiracy in bribery for purchase of the Swedish guns, including Rajiv Gandhi, the Hinduja brothers and even Ottavio Quattrocchi. The CBI withdrew prosecution claiming there was a lack of evidence.

The CBI exoneration was despite the fact that all bank documents detailing who were behind the secret bank account payments were handed over to India with much fanfare in 1997 by the Swiss authorities and a series of telling exposes by journalist Chitra Subramaniam over the years provided clinching proof of the involvements in the kickbacks. In her recent bestseller, Bofors Gate, she confirms the suspicion that her impeccable sources include then  Swedish police chief, Sten Lindstrom.

More than a decade after the court discharge, the CBI like Rip Van Winkle woke from its slumber and tried to file an appeal in the SC against the HC judgment. Recently, the CBI announced that it has been regularly sending letters rogatory to the US since November 8, 2023, asking for permission to interrogate Michael Hershman, a private American detective. He had........

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