Bofors case: Quattrocchi's fate to be decided today

The fate of Italian Businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi might be decided on Saturday as the CBI will be pleading before a Delhi court seeking closure of prosecution in Bofors pay off case as all efforts to extradite him for facing the trial in India has failed.

Quattrocchi, the sole surviving accused in the two-decade-old case after the Delhi High Court quashed the charges on 31st May, 2005 against other accused, has neverappeared before any court in the country.

The CBI, which is probing the politically-sensitive case, will be filing the closure report on Saturday before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaveri Baweja.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily had on Thursday said in London that the CBI will withdraw the case againstQuattrocchi.

"The Government has taken a decision for withdrawal of the cases and the Public Prosecutor, on behalf of the CBI, will move an application before a magistrate's court in Delhi on October 3," he had said.

The stand of CBI will, however, be opposed by advocate Ajay Agrawal who had on Thursday filed an application in the court in his personal capacity pleading it to reject any such move by the investigating agency.

Agrawal had filed the application two days after the government informed the Supreme Court on 29th September that it has decided to drop the case against Quattrocchi saying it could not be kept pending forever as two attempts to extradite him have failed.