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Deal
Signed
March 24, 1986: The Rs 3,868 crore (at current exchange rate) contract
for supply of 400 howitzers is signed between India and AB Bofors.
Scandal
Breaks
Apr
16, 1987: Swedish radio blows the lid, claims Bofors paid kickbacks
to top Indian politicians and key defence officials, routing the
money to Swiss Banks to secure deal. Claims agents involved.
Rajiv
Denies
Apr
20, 1987: Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi emphatically tells Parliament
that no middlemen or agents are involved in deal. Says his Swedish
counterpart Olof Palme had assured him of this.
Case
Slapped
Jan
22, 1990: The CBI under the direct control of prime minister V.P.
Singh registers an fir. Among those named are G.P. Hinduja, W.N.
Chadha and Martin Ardbo, president of AB Bofors.
Breakthrough
Jan
22, 1997: The CBI is handed over 500 pages of secret bank documents
in Berne. This follows a protracted legal battle at the end of which
the highest court in Switzerland allows the transmission.
Chargesheet
1
Oct
22, 1999: The CBI decides to prosecute W.N. Chadha and Ottavio Quattrocchi.
The late Rajiv Gandhi's name figures, but only as "an accused
not sent for trial".
Chargesheet
2
Oct
9, 2000: Three Hinduja brothers named in chargesheet. With this
CBI claims documentary evidence against all major beneficiaries
of kickbacks filed in court.
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Relics
of old empires exist everywhere. Why can't the Mani Shankar Aiyars of
India let them be? asks INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Ravi Shankar in
