The Hindu : Court frames charges against Hinduja brothers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 27, 2004

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Court frames charges against Hinduja brothers

By Our Staff Reporter

A Bofors gun replica, which the Congress plans to use for campaigning, outside the party's headquarters in New Delhi on Friday. — Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW DELHI, MARCH 26. The Europe-based Hinduja brothers were today charged with criminal conspiracy and cheating in the Rs. 64-crore Bofors gun deal case by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Reena Singh Nag.

The CMM turned down the plea of senior counsel Ram Jethmalani, appearing for the three brothers, for adjournment of the case to allow them to move the Supreme Court for quashing a Delhi High Court order against them. The magistrate also framed forgery charges against the Swedish arms firm, AB Bofors.

The court framed the charges of criminal conspiracy (120 B) IPC independently and also read with cheating (420) against the three Hinduja brothers — S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja and P.P. Hinduja — and posted the case for trial on May 12, 13 and 14. The CMM fixed the dates for the trial after counsel for the three brothers as well as that of the A.B. Bofors pleaded `not guilty' and claimed trial in the case.

In his order, the CMM said the three brothers, in pursuance of the criminal conspiracy between April 1985 and March 1986, along with Win Chadha (since expired) and Martin Ardbo and Ottavio Quattrocchi (against whom separate proceedings are pending), succeeded in cheating the Government of India by dishonestly and fraudulently inducing it to enter into a contract on March 24, 1986 for the supply of 410 Bofors guns and the gun systems.

The accused cheated the Government by misrepresenting that no agents were involved in the negotiation for the contract and that the prices quoted were the reduced prices proportionate to the amount of commission they would have otherwise paid to the agents. By doing so, they had caused wrongful loss to the Government of India to the extent of commission (as wrongful gain) obtained from AB Bofors through M/s Me Intypre Corporation in three accounts bearing the code names Lotus, Mont Blanc and Tulip to the extent of SEK 80797,709.92 during May-December, 1986, the order stated.

For the A.B. Bofors, now known as Messrs Kartongen Kemi Och Forvaltning, the court said that in May 1987, it had made false/forged document, described as settlement agreement dated December 27, 1985 showing that it had decided to cancel the earlier agreement between Bofors and Moineao and made new settlement by which it was agreed to pay a cancellation fee of SEK 80 million to be paid in instalments during 1986.

The Delhi High Court had, on February 4, set aside the charges of criminal conspiracy and bribery against the public servants as well as the three Hinduja brothers and the gun supplier company in the case, but directed the CMM to frame the above-mentioned charges against the accused persons.

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