Supreme Court Closes Bofors Chapter, Rejects Final Plea Against Hinduja Brothers' Acquittal

New Delhi: Bringing the decades-old Bofors pay-off case to a definitive close, the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging the 2005 Delhi High Court judgment that quashed criminal proceedings against the Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors.

The ruling effectively ends the last remaining legal challenge in one of India's most politically significant corruption cases.

A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran refused to entertain the appeal filed by advocate Ajay K. Agrawal, observing that there was no purpose in prolonging litigation after the Delhi High Court had already quashed the proceedings and the CBI's challenge to that verdict had also failed.

During the hearing, Agrawal sought four weeks' time to amend the petition by removing the names of Srichand P. Hinduja and Gopichand P. Hinduja, both of whom have passed away. The bench declined the request, indicating that the matter could not be kept pending any longer.

The Delhi High Court, in its May 31, 2005 judgment, had discharged Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja, along with AB Bofors, after finding significant deficiencies in the CBI's evidence.

The High Court held that the agency failed to establish any direct involvement of the Hinduja brothers in securing the 1986 gun deal or prove that the alleged payments constituted illegal commissions. It had also criticised the investigation, noting that key documents obtained from Swedish authorities were neither original nor authenticated.

The Supreme Court had earlier, in 2018, dismissed the CBI's appeal against the Delhi High Court verdict, citing an unexplained delay of 4,522 days in filing the petition. Friday's order dismissing the private appeal effectively shuts the door on any further attempt to revive proceedings against the Hinduja brothers in the case.

The Bofors controversy dates back to the Rs 1,437-crore contract signed on March 24, 1986, between the Government of India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 howitzers to the Indian Army. The deal snowballed into a major political scandal in 1987 after Swedish Radio alleged that illegal kickbacks had been paid to Indian politicians and defence officials to secure the contract.

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