New Delhi: The hearing of the case on extradition of Italian businessmen Ottavio Quattrocchi, the prime accused in the Bofors kickbacks case, is to begin in El Dorado court in Argentina on March 23.
The extradition papers filed by the CBI were forwarded to the court in El Dorado — the city in the northern Missiones province where Quattrocchi was first arrested — on March 6.
The legal team at the Argentine Foreign Ministry examined the Indian case against Quattrocchi and decided that identical crimes are inscribed in the Argentine penal code.
Sources say that Quattrocchi's lawyers will be given access to the CBI dossier against their client. Judge Mario Hachiro-Doi will be dealing with the case in El Dorado.
Quattrocchi, who was detained on February 6 in Argentina on the basis of an Interpol red-corner notice, was released on bail on February 26. He has, however, been barred from leaving the country.
The Argetinian authorities have impounded Quattrocchi's passport. “He must be in Argentina for the entire duration of investigation. He is not allowed to leave Argentina,” sources said.
Carolina Cayozzo, the CNN Correspondent in Argentina, also told CNN-IBN that "Quattrocchi cannot leave the country until the legal procedure gets over." Quattrocchi was held in Argentina for corruption charges.
In India, Quattrocchi faces charges are Section 420 (cheating) and 120B (conspiracy), which is an extraditable offense.
Quattrocchi had escaped India in 1993 to United Kingdom while CBI was still preparing to charge him in the case. The Central agency finally got the necessary papers from Switzerland and filed a case against him in 1999.
Comments
0 comment