Why The Court Closed The File: During the hearing, Agarwal sought four weeks to amend his petition and remove the names of Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, both of whom have since passed away.
The bench pushed back sharply, pointing out that the Delhi High Court had already quashed proceedings in 2005 and that the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) own appeal against that verdict was dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2018 over inordinate delay. Justice Pardiwala reportedly asked what was even left to argue once the High Court’s order stood unchallenged and the CBI’s appeal had already failed.
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A Deal That Reshaped Indian Politics
The Bofors scandal began after India signed a Rs 1,437 crore deal with Sweden’s AB Bofors in March 1986 for more than 400 units of 155mm howitzer guns to modernise the Indian Army. A year later, Swedish Radio alleged that commissions had been paid to Indian politicians.
The fallout contributed directly to Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress losing the 1989 general election. Over the following decades, the case wound through the CBI, multiple Indian courts, Swiss banking authorities, and failed extradition attempts against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi.
Lasting Impact On Defence Procurement
The controversy led to far stricter procurement standard operating procedures and a dedicated Defence Procurement Manual, but it also slowed new artillery inductions for nearly three decades, with the Army waiting until systems like the M777 Ultra-Light Howitzer and K9 Vajra arrived to replace ageing guns.
Ironically, the same Bofors howitzers at the centre of the controversy played a decisive role in India’s 1999 Kargil War. With the Supreme Court’s latest order, one of India’s longest-running political and legal sagas now stands closed for good, its guns remembered as much for their battlefield legacy as for the scandal that bore their name.
