Bofors: CBI sends judicial request to US, seeks information from private investigator

New Delhi: The CBI has sent a judicial request to the United States seeking information from private investigator Michael Hershman, who had expressed willingness to share with Indian agencies crucial details about the Rs 64-crore Bofors bribery scandal of the 1980s, officials said on Wednesday.

Hershman, head of the Fairfax Group, visited India in 2017 to attend a conference of private detectives.

During his stay, he appeared on various platforms, alleging that the investigation into the scam was derailed by the then Congress government and stated he was willing to share details with the CBI.

He had claimed in an interview that he was appointed by the Union Finance Ministry in 1986 for investigation of violation of currency control laws and money laundering by Indians abroad and tracking of such assets outside India and some of them pertained to the Bofors deal.

The CBI also approached the Finance Ministry seeking documents pertaining to engagement of Hershman and if any report was submitted by him but the records of that time could not be furnished to the agency.

The agency took note of Hershman's claims in several interviews and announced in 2017 that the matter would be investigated according to due process.

The need for Letters Rotatory arose because letters and reminders to the US authorities on November 8, 2023, December 21, 2023, May 13, 2024, and August 14, 2024, did not yield any information.

A Letter Rogatory is a written request sent by the court of one country to the court of another country to obtain assistance in the investigation or prosecution of a criminal matter.

The requests to the Interpol also did not yield any outcome.

The CBI got a green signal from the Home Ministry on sending the LR to the US on January 14 this year. The agency informed the Special Court, which cleared the LR application of the CBI on February 11.

"It is requested that in order to collect both documentary as well as oral evidence, for ascertaining the fact relating to the claims made by Michael Hershman, in the above-mentioned interview, it is necessary to conduct investigation in the United States of America," a special court had noted while clearing the CBI's application for the issuance of the LRs.

The CBI had registered the case in 1990, three years after a Swedish radio channel had alleged that bribes were paid by Bofors to politicians and defence officials of India to clinch the deal. The allegations created a big scandal for the Rajiv Gandhi government and have been used by rival parties to target the Congress.

The scam pertains to allegations of a Rs 64-crore bribe in a Rs 1,437-crore deal with Swedish firm Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm field Howitzers, which played a significant role in India’s victory during the Kargil war.

The CBI filed the chargesheets in 1999 and 2000. The Delhi High Court had exonerated Rajiv Gandhi in 2004, nearly 13 years after he was assassinated by the LTTE in a suicide attack.

In 2005, the Delhi High Court quashed all charges against the remaining accused noting that the CBI failed to prove that the money transferred by Bofors to various agents by Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi was meant to be paid as a bribe to public servants in India.

The CBI appealed against the 2005 decision in the apex court in 2018 but it was dismissed on the grounds of delay. The Supreme Court, however, allowed it to raise all the points in an appeal filed by advocate Ajay Aggarwal in 2005.