• Law Minister Bharadwaj and senior Ministry officials signed their approval on this file and returned it to DoPT which, in turn, sent the opinion to the Ministry of External Affairs for despatch to Pramathesh Rath, the Indian Ambassador in Buenos Aires.

• The CBI was given a copy of the Law Ministry’s opinion.

• The Ambassador reverted to the MEA/DoPT after holding consultations with the Argentine Foreign Office. He reported that Argentine authorities had said that since an appeal was “mandatory,” India would have to, one, take back its extradition request and, two, should the case be withdrawn, there was a possibility of litigation costs being borne by India.

• This time, the opinion of the CBI was sought. Director Vijay Shankar said that since Quattrocchi remained on Interpol’s Red Corner list, it was difficult for the extradition request to be withdrawn altogether.

The CBI’s opinion was sent to the Law Ministry by the DoPT. But the Law Ministry “reiterated” its earlier view, this time in a brief one-para opinion. The Law Ministry indicated that while the cost issue would be taken up at the “appropriate time,” in view of the rejection of the extradition by the Eldorado court, no appeal should be filed.

Following the signed approval of Suresh Pachauri, the Minister of State for Personnel, and other top officials of the DoPT, the Quattrocchi file then returned to the Indian mission in Buenos Aires where Rath told Argentine authorities that the Government would not appeal the Eldorado court judgment.

... contd.