Supreme Court to hear CBI appeal against Delhi High Court judgment in Bofors case on Friday

Eight months after the CBI had moved to Supreme Court challenging Delhi High Court's closure on the Bofors case, the apex court on Tuesday accepted the investigative agencies plea, and will hear the matter on October 12, 2018.

Over 12 years ago, the Delhi High Court had closed down the Bofors case. But earlier this year in February, the CBI, after seeking approval from A-G KK Venugopal, approached the SC seeking reopening of the case.

The plea was filed in front of the apex court by the investigative agency after an investigation conducted by Republic TV. Bofors case pertains to a 1986 deal between the Indian government under the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and the Swedish company Bofors for the acquisition of 410 Howitzer field guns.

The agency will be approaching the investigators Michael Hershman and Sten Lindstrom who had made numerous and damning revelations during Republic TV's investigations in 2017. Some of the findings of those investigations are detailed here:

1. Allegations from Bofors Chief Investigator Sten Lindstrom that then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then-Swedish premier Olof Palme discussed Bofors payments on a flight in 1986, and that the Bofors kickbacks were greater than previously reported
2. Allegations by Fairfax group President Michael Hershman, the first Bofors secret investigator, that Rajiv Gandhi tried to silence his own minister because the minister was investigating the Bofors case, and that Hershman himself was offered bribes on three occasions after stumbling on the Bofors scam. Hershman also pointed to a Pakistan-link in the Bofors deal.
3. The diary entries of Martin Ardbo which raised serious questions regarding the alleged Gandhi-link to the Bofors scam.
4. A 15-page document showing how the Rajiv Gandhi government was working with Bofors bosses to ensure that the Parliament of India was kept in the dark about key specifics of the Bofors deal. 
5. Contents of the note that Madhav Singh Solanki, the then Minister of External Affairs in the Government of India, handed over to Swiss minister Phelber on February 1, 1992, at Davos, Switzerland. 

In October 2017, the Central Bureau of Investigation had issued an official statement saying that the agency will be looking into the facts and circumstances as mentioned by Michael Hershman on Republic TV. While addressing a press conference on the development, Union Minister Smriti Irani had also mentioned Republic TV's investigation involving Hershman.