SC advances hearing in Quattrocchi case

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said it would hear the petition of the government on November 30 instead of December 11 on the oral submission of Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam.
The government said the matter can be heard at the earliest, since a lower court had deferred its verdict on the CBI’s petition to close the case against Quattrocchi to March 2010.

The CBI had earlier told the apex court that it would withdraw prosecution against Quattrocchi, who is allegedly involved in the Rs 64-cr Bofors payoff case, since it has failed twice to extradite him.

On the last date of hearing, Subramanium had said: “The CBI has failed in its move to extradite him, as the foreign courts wanted evidence.” The CBI has failed to produce tangible evidence before the Malaysian and Argentine courts where extradition cases were on against him. The courts wanted to know Quattrocchi’s offence, as he prayed them to dismiss petitions for his extradition since the alleged receiving of commission from the gun manufacturer cannot be regarded as an offence.