Quattrocchi had been detained at the Iguazu airport in Argentina’s Misiones province on February 6 on the basis of an Interpol Red Corner Notice and the CBI presented 250 pages of “evidence” in court. On June 9, a court in El Dorado rejected the CBI’s request for extradition.

In fact, last week, top CBI officials had claimed that an “automatic appeal” would be filed in the Supreme Court.

When questioned, CBI Director Vijay Shankar claimed he was “unaware” of the appeal being filed or withdrawn and was only informed this morning that Quattrocchi had got his passport back.

“Since the extradition request was turned down in June on technical grounds, the CBI had said there were sufficient grounds for appeal. I do not know what happened after that,” Shankar said, adding that he would now like to examine the Quattrocchi case “in totality” and that as far as the agency was concerned, he is an absconder wanted for trial in an Indian court.

While cheating is the only charge Quattrocchi faces, the agency has sent officials across the world to establish the trail of funds linked to his company’s account, AE Services, into which $7.34 million was diverted in 1986 as part of the alleged Bofors kickbacks.

Not good for great country to lose case: he rubs it in

Hours after he reached home, an elated Quattrocchi spoke to The Indian Express on telephone. He said his fourth grandchild was born when he was fighting his extradition case in Argentina and that the three-month old boy was at the Milan airport to receive him:

... contd.