India's prime minister denied wrongdoing on Tuesday by his Congress government over delays in seeking to extradite from Argentina an Italian businessman wanted in an arms kickback scandal.
The government has faced fierce opposition in parliament for two days after revelations that ministers failed to move swiftly to extradite Ottavio Quattrocchi and did not disclose his arrest for two weeks. "I solemnly affirm to the public at large that this government has done nothing wrong," Singh told reporters in the Indian capital.
"The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has been allowed the fullest possible freedom to go about its business and the rule of law will prevail," he said. The Italian businessman, who had close links to ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, is accused of allegedly taking bribes to swing a 1.3-billion-dollar arms deal in favour of Sweden's Bofors in the mid-1980s.
Quattrocchi, who has denied wrongdoing, was arrested on February 6 in Argentina under an Interpol warrant issued by India. But Indian authorities said late Monday he had been released from custody on bail by Argentina.
India's CBI said the release of the businessman on bail would not affect extradition proceedings. The prime minister's statement came as a New Delhi court issued a non-bailable warrant against Quattrocchi following a CBI application seeking the launch of legal proceedings to extradite him.
The Supreme Court has asked the government and the CBI to inform it within a week about the steps taken to extradite the businessman. Both houses of India's parliament were adjourned for a second straight day on Tuesday amid opposition uproar over the affair.
The opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party vowed to block parliamentary proceedings "from the word go" if the government does not explain why Quattrocchi's detention was not disclosed earlier.
The government said last weekend it would send a CBI team to seek extradition, a potentially lengthy process as Argentina and India do not have an extradition treaty.
Quattrocchi has always maintained his innocence, saying his only crime was being a friend of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi's husband, who was assassinated in 1991. In 2005, the Delhi High Court dismissed similar charges against the three Europe-based Hinduja brothers - of the family-run Hinduja Group multinational - as well as against the late Rajiv Gandhi. The scandal has dogged Indian politics since it erupted in 1986.
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