Click to play videoNew Delhi: Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi has returned back to his home country, Italy after he set free by the Argentinean court. Quattrocchi was given the green signal to leave by Argentine authorities, after a court in El Dorado shot down the CBI's plea to extradite him to India.
The CBI had the legal option of appealing in a higher court, but says it failed to get clearance from the Centre. Quattrocchi said, "The CBI has gone out of its way, breaking every rule of honest conduct to go after me in what has clearly been a political persecution.
"This is demonstrated by the fact that I have won every single case in a court of law in connection with the Bofors case, and this continued persecution makes you think that at the end, they are only interested in kicking up a media frenzy for ulterior motives."
Quattrocchi's passport was returned to him by the Argentine authorities last week. He was detained over six-months ago on an Interpol red-corner notice.
Even though Quattrocchi has won the legal battle against extradition to India, the red-corner notice will remain in place.
Speaking from the airport, Quattrocchi told PTI that he was happy to be on his way home and was looking forward to spending time with his family.
Information on the case has been closely guarded since the failure of the CBI's extradition attempt in Eldorado on June 8. Neither the CBI nor its Argentinean prosecutors Miguel Almeyra and Lilian Delgado got orders for appealing in the Supreme Court against the lower court's order not granting the Indian plea for Quattrocchi's extradition, sources said.
Indian Ambassador Pramanesh Rath said through a spokesperson that he would not like to comment on the issue.
Quattrocchi was detained at Iguazu airport in Argentina's Misiones province on February six on the basis of a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol at the behest of the CBI. His wife, who was with him in Argentina, had left for Italy three months ago.
The businessman, who had earlier successfully fought a similar extradition battle against Malaysian authorities, maintained that he has been "a victim of an obsessive persecution" by Indian investigative authorities.
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