BJP pursuing Bofors case to 'defame opposition', says Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday accused the BJP of pursuing the Bofors case to "defame the opposition," reported news agency ANI.


"It is a non-issue. They are flogging a dead horse. BJP has been carrying out this political campaign to defame opposition. Investigation has been done, judiciary has already given verdict. It is a tactic by Modi government to deflect attention from their failure," ANI quoted Congress leader Anand Sharma as saying.

Sharma's comments came a day after AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad dismissed the move as one to gain "cheap publicity" before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Earlier this week, the CBI moved a trial court for permission to launch a fresh probe into the the

Bofors gun deal payoff case

. It also challenged in the Supreme Court a 12-year-old Delhi high court decision to close the case.

The Tis Hazari court will hear the agency's fresh application to further investigate the case on February 17.

The CBI application in the trial court is based on recent "revelations" by

Michael Hershman

, head of an international private investigation firm engaged by the VP Singh government to probe the allegation that the Swedish manufacturer of Bofors guns paid Rs 64 crore as a bribe to bag India's Rs 1,473 crore order for 400 155mm howitzers during PM Rajiv Gandhi's tenure in 1986.

(With inputs from agencies)