By IANS
El Doradao/New Delhi : In a major setback to India, an Argentine lower court early Saturday rejected New Delhi's plea for the extradition of Ottavio Quattrocchi, sought in connection with the Bofors corruption scandal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to appeal against the decision with Argentina's Supreme Court at Buenos Aires.
After two days of arguments by CBI lawyers, federal judge Mario Hachiro Doi ruled that Quattrocchi, 68, should not be extradited to India.
But while rejecting the extradition request, the court barred him from leaving Argentina till June 18, the time frame by which India can challenge the judgment.
A written ruling of the judgment detailing the reasons for rejecting CBI's plea is expected on June 13, following which the CBI will have five days to appeal in the Supreme Court of Argentina.
CBI maintains that Quattrocchi took $7 million in bribes as a middleman in the $1.2 billion purchase of artillery from Swedish arms maker Bofors AB in 1986 for the Indian Army.
"What can we say? We were always fighting with our backs to the wall. The CBI will go through the order and decide if we should pursue the legal motions and appeal in the Supreme Court," a CBI official told IANS, hours after the verdict.
CBI director Vijay Shankar was not available for comment.
The CBI had submitted a 250-page extradition request to the Argentine government after his arrest in February.
Quattrocchi was detained in Argentina in February under a 1997 Interpol warrant. India formally requested in March that Argentina extradite him.