The Hindu : National : V.P. Singh: Bofors was ready to disclose names

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Tuesday, Jun 27, 2006

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V.P. Singh: Bofors was ready to disclose names

`Sources pulled out under Congress pressure'

New Delhi: Bofors had expressed readiness to disclose the names of middlemen who had allegedly received kickbacks in the artillery gun deal but pulled out under Congress pressure, the former Prime Minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, has said.

In his book Manzil Se Jyaada Safar, he has said that his Government had "pressurised" Bofors officials to reveal the names of the persons who had received kickbacks in the Rs. 64-crore gun deal.

He claimed that the Bofors company had sent its representatives to New Delhi to reveal the names of those who allegedly received bribes but returned after Congress "sources" persuaded them against the move contending that the National Front Government he was heading "would not last long."

"I had entrusted the job of discussing the matter with them [Bofors' representatives] with the Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary. When they were in Delhi, Congress sources got the word around that this [National Front] Government would not last long. Why were they [Bofors officials] doing this [revealing names]," said Mr. Singh, who pursued the Bofors kickbacks issue after coming to power in 1989 dislodging the Rajiv Gandhi Government.

Mr. Singh said the First Information Report in the Bofors kickbacks case, lodged on the directive from his Government, did not mention the name of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

On the High Court giving a clean chit to Rajiv Gandhi in the case, he said the CBI had not presented all the evidence in the case before the court. Even the court had observed that the probe agency had not done its job satisfactorily. Mr. Singh said he did not have evidence to prove political interference in the investigation. — PTI

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