CBI on Centre’s radar for not probing arms company chief

The Central government is examining whether, or not, extraneous circumstances played a role in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not probing Bodo Herbert Garbe, the chief of German arms giant Rheinmetall, accused of hatching a conspiracy to get the company off Ministry of Defence’s blacklist by allegedly bribing top defence officials. The CBI sat on the case despite the Supreme Court repeat- edly directing the agency to probe the matter.

Rheinmetall was blacklisted by the MoD in 2012 after it was found that the company had allegedly bribed the Director-General of the Ordnance Factory Board at the time to secure a contract for air defence guns.

The conduct of the CBI has come for questioning because the agency itself had moved the Apex Court in September 2017, challenging a Delhi High Court order of February 2016 exonerating Garbe from charges of brib- ing government officials in India.

After “waking up” to the High Court order in September 2017, almost 19 months after Garbe was acquitted, the CBI moved the Supreme Court seeking “condonation” of the delay and setting aside of the order of Garbe’s exoneration.

However, despite the Supreme Court agreeing to condone the delay and directing the agency to “take fresh steps” in the case, the CBI suddenly decided to “drop” the case, as its subse- quent conduct shows. While accepting the CBI plea on 10 November 2017, the Supreme Court ordered the “condonation” and taking up of “fresh steps” in the case.

Subsequently, the CBI told the Apex Court on 7 March 2018 that since Garbe was in Germany, it would need the help of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to serve notice to him. After this, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to provide the necessary documents to the MHA and gave four weeks’ time to do