The Supreme Court on Thursday brought the nearly four-decade-old Bofors pay-off case to an end. The court dismissed the last surviving appeal against the 2005 Delhi High Court judgment that had quashed criminal proceedings against the three Hinduja brothers and Swedish arms company AB Bofors.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran refused to give more time to advocate and BJP leader Ajay K Agrawal. He had challenged the High Court order.
The bench noted that the case had been pending since 2018. It was also not convinced that a private individual’s appeal could continue after the CBI’s own challenge had already been dismissed.
Bofors Case: Supreme Court Refuses Further Adjournment
During Thursday’s hearing, Agrawal appeared virtually and sought four weeks to remove the names of two deceased respondents, Srichand P Hinduja and Gopichand P Hinduja. The bench questioned the need to continue the matter. “What is all this about the Hinduja brothers and CBI?” it asked.
When told that the Delhi High Court had already quashed the proceedings, the bench remarked, “All proceedings were quashed. What is this? How many years have passed?”
Agrawal argued that the original defence deal dated back to 1986. He also explained why the CBI’s appeal had earlier been dismissed. The bench, however, did not agree. “No, no…dismissed,” the bench said.
When Agrawal sought more time, the court responded, “No question of adjournment. It is a 2018 matter,” before dismissing the appeal.
Bofors Scandal That Rocked Rajiv Gandhi Government
The Bofors controversy began with a ₹1,437-crore defence deal signed on March 24, 1986. Under the agreement, India was to buy 400 155 mm howitzer guns from Swedish arms maker AB Bofors for the Indian Army.
The controversy erupted in April 1987 after Swedish Radio reported that illegal commissions had allegedly been paid to influential Indians to secure the deal.
The allegations badly damaged the image of the Rajiv Gandhi government. The issue became a major theme in the 1989 Lok Sabha election campaign. The Congress eventually lost power that year.
How the Bofors Investigation Unfolded
The CBI registered an FIR in January 1990. It alleged offences including criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and corruption. Former Bofors president Martin Ardbo, alleged middleman Win Chadha and the Hinduja brothers were among those named.
Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi was also accused in the case. The Hinduja brothers were later named in a supplementary charge sheet filed in 2000. However, the case dragged on for decades.
In February 2004, Delhi High Court Justice JD Kapoor cleared former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of criminal culpability in the case. The court also directed that a forgery charge be framed against Bofors.
2005 Delhi High Court Judgment
On May 31, 2005, Justice RS Sodhi of the Delhi High Court quashed all charges against Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash Hinduja and AB Bofors. The judgment also criticised the CBI’s handling of the case. It noted that the investigation had cost the exchequer nearly ₹250 crore.
The CBI later challenged the judgment in the Supreme Court. But in November 2018, the top court refused to entertain the agency’s appeal because of an unexplained delay of 4,522 days.
The Supreme Court had said it was “not convinced” by the reasons given by the CBI for the delay.
Bofors Case Finally Comes To An End
Several key accused died during the long legal battle. Quattrocchi died in 2013 after repeated attempts to extradite him failed. Win Chadha, Martin Ardbo and former defence secretary SK Bhatnagar also died during the proceedings. With the Supreme Court now dismissing Agrawal’s appeal, there is no surviving judicial challenge to the 2005 acquittal.
The Bofors case, which once shook Indian politics and dominated national debate, has finally reached its legal end after nearly 40 years.
Sudeep Singh Rawat is a Copy Editor at NewsX Digital with over five years of experience in digital journalism. He covers national and international news, with a focus on politics, crime, technology, public affairs, and trending topics. Before joining NewsX Digital, he worked with Business Standard, The Sunday Guardian, and other digital media organisations. His reporting focuses on breaking news, enterprise stories, and explainers that inform readers through accurate, balanced, and context-driven journalism.
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