CHENNAI: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Monday sought permission of the Prime Minister to prosecute National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in a number of graft cases.
Listing a number of instances in connection with which Sonia Gandhi could be prosecuted, in a 206-page long petition, Dr Swamy sought Manmohan Singh’s permission on the basis of what he calls prima facie cases built against the NAC chief based on documentary evidence.
“Sonia has been habitually committing acts of corruption since 1972,” he alleged in his plea, which seeks permission to prosecute the UPA chairperson primarily in the Bofors scam and for hoarding black money in tax havens abroad. Citing a number of smaller cases in which where she would be liable for prosecution, he notes that the PM’s sanction was necessary as Sonia Gandhi holds a Cabinet rank and also the NAC chairperson.
Further, Swamy questioned the circumstances under which she was granted Indian citizenship.
He listed out documents, most of which are already available in the public domain, to establish the close relationship that Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi had with the family of Italian businessman Ottavi Quattrocchi. The plea also talked about the depositions made to the CBI by a security officer and a chauffeur among others, as the basis for these claims.
Swamy also quoted Swedish National Bureau of Investigation Chief Sten Lindstorm, Swedens’s special prosecutor for the Bofors Case, as saying that it was ‘no coincidence’ that the bribes that greased the Bofors came from a friend of Sonia Gandhi’s.