INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
After studying the Bofors deal for almost 27 years, a Parliamentary panel today pressed the need for a legislative review to shield the CBI
from political obstruction in cases related to the Howitzer gun purchase and urged the agency to investigate the matter without "fear or
favour".All ongoing cases related to the Bofors contract should be swiftly investigated by the CBI, a six-member PAC sub-committee headed by
the BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab said in its draft report adopted at the sub-panel's meeting in New Delhi.The need for necessary legislative
reviews was emphasised in the draft report which will be finalised after it gets an approval from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).The
sub-committee is looking into the non-compliance of certain aspects of CAG reports of 1989 and 1990 on the Bofors Howitzer gun deal.The
meeting today was attended by, among others, Ponnusamy Venugopal of the AIADMK and Mohammed Ali Khan of the Congress."The Committee desires
that necessary legislative reviews be made to ensure unencumbered freedom of investigation and prosecution by the CBI, shielding the agency
from political or executive obstructions in its functioning within the law," the PAC sub-committee said.The CAG report on Bofors is the
oldest pending matter before PAC, whose main function is to examine a CAG audit report after it has been placed in Parliament.The report had
been delayed as action-taken notes had not been submitted to the panel by the defence ministry and government organisations, a member of the
sub-committee said.While deliberating over the defence deal, the panel had asked several top government officials to appear before it and to
brief the members about the matter.The report will now be sent for approval to the main committee, where, a member said, Congress MPs may
oppose parts of the draft.The main committee is headed by Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress.The Bofors scandal, relating to the alleged
payment of kickbacks in the procurement of Howitzer artillery guns, had triggered a massive political storm and is believed to have led to
the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1989.The CBI recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging a 2005 order of the Delhi
High Court quashing all charges against those accused in the politically-sensitive pay-off case.The filing of the appeal came after Attorney
General KK Venugopal had advised the agency against moving a petition 12 years after the High Court's verdict.
