New Delhi [India], March 7 : Advocate Ajay Aggarwal, who is pursuing the Bofors scandal case in the Supreme Court, revealed on Thursday that he had a positive conversation with private investigator Michael Hershman over a WhatsApp call. They discussed the Rs64-crore Bofors bribery scandal from the 1980s, and Hershman agreed to meet Aggarwal in the USA to share new information he possesses about the case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recently sent a letter rogatory (LR), or judicial request, to the United States, seeking Hershman's cooperation and evidence. Hershman, a private investigator known for his expertise in uncovering corruption, has expressed his willingness to provide new details that could shed light on the decades-old scandal.
The audio recording of their conversation captures Hershman's positive response and readiness to meet and discuss the case further. He emphasized that the Bofors issue has been allowed to linger for an extended period without any substantial action being taken by the government to uncover the truth.
During their conversation, Advocate Ajay Aggarwal convinced Hershman to meet in the USA, as he is currently undergoing visa formalities for travel. Hershman claimed that he is not aware about any formal request from the government regarding the CBI's recent LRs but stated he is ready to provide all the information he possesses in the matter.
During an interview with ANI, Advocate Ajay Agarwal revealed that, based on an RTI response, only Rs5 crore were spent on the investigation. He further asserted that when the Delhi High Court quashed the proceedings against the Hinduja brothers, it wrongly noted that the CBI had expended Rs250 crore on the investigation."
Advocate Ajay Agarwal is a Supreme Court lawyer and politician. In the 2014 general elections, he ran as the BJP candidate from Rae Bareli, where he faced off against Congress president Sonia Gandhi but failed.
An LR is a written request sent by the court of one country to the court of another country to obtain assistance in the investigation or prosecution of a criminal matter.
Hershman, the head of Fairfax Group, had visited India in 2017 and alleged that the then Congress government derailed the investigation into the Bofors case. During his stay, he appeared on various platforms, alleging that the investigation into the scam was derailed by the then government and stated he was willing to share details with the CBI.
He claimed that he had been appointed by India's Finance Ministry in 1986 to investigate violations of currency control laws and money laundering, some of which were linked to the Bofors deal. He also expressed his willingness to share information with Indian agencies.
The CBI sought relevant documents from the Finance Ministry regarding Hershman's engagement but was informed that no such records were available due to the case's age.
The CBI registered the case in 1990, three years after a Swedish radio channel alleged that Bofors paid bribes to Indian politicians and defense officials to clinch the deal. The allegations created a big scandal for the Rajiv Gandhi government and have been used by rival parties to target the Congress.
The scam pertains to allegations of a Rs64-crore bribe in a Rs1,437-crore deal with Swedish firm Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm field howitzers, which played a significant role in India's victory during the Kargil War.