Supreme Court Dismisses Final Bofors Appeal, Ending Legal Battle
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the final pending appeal in the Bofors bribery case, formally ending all judicial proceedings linked to the nearly four-decade-old controversy. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran refused to entertain an appeal filed by advocate Ajay K. Agrawal, who had challenged the Delhi High Court's 2005 verdict that quashed all criminal proceedings against the Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors.
The court also declined a request from the petitioner for additional time to remove the names of deceased accused Srichand P. Hinduja and Gopichand P. Hinduja, observing that the matter could not be delayed any further. The bench noted that since the Delhi High Court had already quashed the proceedings and the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) appeal had been dismissed earlier, there was no justification for continuing the case.
The Bofors case has its roots in a Rs 1,437-crore deal signed on March 24, 1986, between the Government of India and AB Bofors for the purchase of 400 howitzer guns. The following year, Swedish Radio alleged that illegal commissions had been paid to Indian politicians and defence officials, sparking a political storm that persisted for decades. The allegations centred on payments routed through foreign bank accounts, and the investigation became a focal point of opposition attacks against the then-prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, who denied any wrongdoing. The case also strained India's political discourse, featuring prominently in elections and parliamentary debates.
Legal proceedings in the case began with an FIR registered by the CBI in 1990. After years of investigation, a chargesheet was filed in 1999 against the Hinduja brothers and Bofors, among others. However, the Delhi High Court, on May 31, 2005, quashed all charges, criticising the investigation and observing that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case. The court also noted that the investigation had reportedly cost the exchequer around Rs 250 crore.
The CBI later moved the Supreme Court against the High Court's decision, but in November 2018, the apex court dismissed the appeal, citing an unexplained delay of 4,522 days in filing it. With the dismissal of Agrawal's appeal, all legal avenues have been exhausted, and the Bofors case has come to a definitive close.
The decision also brings closure to a chapter in India's legal and political history. Over the years, the case was repeatedly revived in public discourse, often used by political opponents to question the integrity of the Congress leadership. Despite the intense scrutiny, no individual was ever convicted in connection with the alleged kickbacks. Both Hinduja brothers have died in recent years, which had already reduced the scope of the proceedings.
Legal analysts have pointed out that the case's lengthy journey illustrates the challenges in investigating cross-border commercial transactions and allegations of political corruption. With the Supreme Court's latest ruling, the judicial process has drawn a final curtain on the Bofors episode.
