NEW DELHI, August 11: The Bofors ghost has come back to haunt the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an unexpected way in another controversial case. The Swiss Justice Department recently told the Indian Government that it will not extend any assistance in the Rs 460 crore HDW submarine case till the fate of the Bofors case is known.

Gopichand Hinduja, who is an appellant in the Swiss courts in the Bofors case, has also been named in the FIR filed by the CBI in the HDW deal. The other accused, including former defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, also figure in both the charge-sheets. Recently a petitioner alleged in the Delhi High Court that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was among those who received a seven per cent commission in the deal.

Authoritative sources confirmed that the Swiss, who are closely monitoring the progress of the Bofors investigation, had rejected ``out of hand'' a CBI plea for assistance in the case. They cited the fact that the Bofors case would be a ``benchmark'' in future requests for criminal investigation assistance. This was conveyed to the CBI in the form of a letter from the Justice Department two weeks ago. When contacted by The Indian Express a Swiss Justice Department spokesman in Berne stated: ``This has been our position right from the beginning when the CBI asked for assistance. We are closely monitoring the Bofors case and once that arrives at a conclusion we will extend any assistance asked for in the HDW probe.'' He also confirmed that Switzerland had rejected a letter rogatory sent by the High Court six years ago.

The investigation into the submarine case which has now dragged for seven years received a further setback when Switzerland and Germany both rejected the requests sent by the Indian Government. Germany maintained that they ``did not prima facie find any criminal liability in the case'' and added that they would not ``pursue the matter any further''.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.