By IANS
New Delhi : Former Indian foreign minister Madhavsinh Solanki will have to face trial for his suspected role in the Bofors payoff scandal as the Delhi High Court Monday rejected his petition to dismiss the complaint against him.
Justice A.K. Sikri said Solanki’s plea was not maintainable and he will face trial before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) designated court in the capital under Section 340 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Solanki had allegedly delivered a letter to his Swiss counterpart in 1992 in an alleged bid to scuttle the probe into the reported irregularities in the purchase of the Bofors gun for the Indian Army in the mid 1980s.
The government in 1997 had granted sanction to CBI to prosecute Solanki.
The former external affairs minister had sought the high court’s direction to quash the criminal complaint against him, saying he was innocent and did not commit any wrong as external affairs minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government.
The 81-year-old Congress veteran also served as Gujarat chief minister for four terms before becoming a union minister.