Bofors hearing: judge recuses

The Supreme Court will hear the Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case on March 28 on a petition filed by BJP leader and advocate Ajay Agrawal, challenging Delhi High Court's decision on May 31, 2005, quashing all charges against three London-based Hinduja brothers and other accused persons.

But Chief Justice Dipak Misra will have to constitute a new Bench to hear the case he had listed before himself, since Justice A M Khanwilkar on Tuesday opted out. He gave no reason for his recusal because of which the hearing was adjourned for constitution of the new Bench.

The CBI had filed a belated appeal on February 2 -- 13 years after the High Court judgment -- challenging the Hinduja brothers' exoneration, but it was not listed as it did not remove the technical defects pointed out by the registry.

On a mention by Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the court gave the agency time till the next hearing on March 28 to rectify the defects.

Mehta wanted the court to hear the CBI in the next hearing, assuring that all defects in the petition will be removed very soon.

It is almost a 3-decade old case of 1980s during the prime ministership of late Rajiv Gandhi who lost the election on the issue. The CBI had registered an FIR (first information report) on January 22, 1990, for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.