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Court restrained from proceeding against Solanki

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court here from proceeding further against the former Union Minister for External Affairs, Madhavsinh Solanki, in a case in which he had allegedly attempted to influence investigation into the Rs.64-crore Bofors gun deal in 1992.

Justice Kailash Gambhir restrained the court on an appeal by Mr. Solanki challenging the special court’s order permitting the investigating agency to prosecute him in the case.

Mr. Gambhir also issued a notice to the CBI seeking its reply to the petition by October 16.

A special court for CBI cases here had on July 7 permitted the investigating agency to prosecute Mr. Solanki. The court had asked it to file a complaint in the Metropolitan Magistrate court concerned.

Following the court direction, the CBI filed a complaint in the ACMM court in the Patiala House courts. The ACMM had posted the complaint on July 28 for consideration.

The High Court had last year dismissed a petition by Mr. Solanki challenging the issuance of a notice to him by the special court on an application by the investigating agency in 2003 seeking his prosecution in the case under Section 193 (giving or fabricating false evidence in a judicial proceeding) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The CBI’s allegation against Mr. Solanki is that he had handed over a fabricated document to the then Swiss Foreign Minister, Rene Felber, for his alleged attempt to influence investigation into the gun deal.

The investigating agency alleged that Mr. Solanki had handed over the fabricated document to Mr. Felber containing false statements and facts in the form of a memorandum when he had visited that country to attend the World Economic Conference in Davos in 1992.

Mr. Solanki by his act had intentionally furnished false information to the Swiss authorities with a purpose to scuttle the investigation into the Swiss part of the case being carried out there, the CBI further alleged.

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