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SC has brought the curtain down on one of India’s most controversial defence scandals (Img: X)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has brought the curtain down on one of India’s most controversial defence scandals- the Bofors pay-off case. The court dismissed the last pending challenge against the 2005 Delhi High Court order that had cleared the Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms company AB Bofors from criminal proceedings.
The dismissal effectively ends a nearly four-decade legal battle linked to allegations of corruption in the ₹1,437 crore Bofors gun deal.
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A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran refused to grant additional time to advocate and BJP leader Ajay K Agrawal, who had challenged the earlier acquittal order.
During the hearing, the bench questioned the prolonged litigation and asked, “What is all this about the Hinduja brothers and CBI?”
The court observed that the matter had remained pending since 2018 and declined to continue proceedings after the investigating agency’s own challenge had already failed.
The Bofors controversy emerged in 1987 after Swedish Radio reported allegations of illegal commissions in the purchase of 400 155 mm howitzer guns from Swedish firm AB Bofors.
The deal, signed in 1986 between India and Bofors, became a major political issue and severely affected the image of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s government. The controversy played a key role in the 1989 general elections, where the Congress party lost power.
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The CBI registered a case in 1990, accusing several individuals of offences including corruption, cheating and criminal conspiracy. Over the years, the case saw multiple accused pass away, including alleged middleman Win Chadha and Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
In 2005, the Delhi High Court quashed criminal proceedings against the Hinduja brothers and Bofors, criticising the investigation process. The Supreme Court later rejected the CBI’s appeal in 2018 due to a delay of more than 4,500 days in filing the challenge.
With the Supreme Court dismissing the remaining appeal, no major legal challenge remains against the 2005 acquittal order. The Bofors case, which once dominated Indian politics and triggered one of the country’s biggest corruption debates, has now reached its final judicial conclusion.
