A day after the Centre informed the Supreme Court it wanted to close all cases against Ottavio Quattrocchi, accused in the Bofors pay-offs case, Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, whose opinion was sought before the submission in court, told The Indian Express today he was clear in his mind that no case existed against the Italian businessman and that the Government had accepted his opinion.

Vahanvati said he was consulted on the case once earlier and finally gave his written opinion to Law Minister Veerappa Moily three days ago. “My first contention was that no case remains and that was also the opinion of the judges of the Delhi High Court which ruled that crucial documents were not available. That opinion was also not appealed against.”

“My second advice was that nothing should be done in a furtive manner and everything should be upfront and clear. That is why the Supreme Court has been informed and nothing has been done without taking the Supreme Court into confidence.”

By “nothing should be done in a furtive manner”, Vahanvati may have been referring to the manner in which the Red Corner Notice against Quattrocchi was withdrawn by the CBI. In October 2008, then Attorney General Milon Banerji, in a four-page opinion, had made out a case for the withdrawal of the RCN saying it was “invalid” but that became public only in April this year when The Indian Express reported that the notice against Quattrocchi had been dropped from the CBI website.

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