Not established Bofors deal was a scandal : President
He made the comment on a subject that once rocked the nation and caused defeat of the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress Government and still remains a topic of varied opinions.
"First of all - it is yet to be to be established that there was a scandal. No Indian court has established it," Mukherjee has said in an interview given to Swedish daily Dagens Nyhetter at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
In 1986, when the Congress was in power, Swiss arms manufacturer Bofors signed a Rs. 1,500 crore contract to supply Howitzer guns to India. The Swedish media reported that the company had to pay massive kickbacks to Indian politicians and defence officials.
The case triggered a fierce opposition campaign leading to the defeat of the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1989.
Mukherjee had been finance minister and defence minister in Congress-led governments.
"I was the defence minister of the country long after Bofors, and all my generals certified that this is one of the best guns we are having. Till today, Indian army is using it. The so-called scandal which you talk of, yes, in the media, it was there. There was a media trial. But I'm afraid, let us not be too much carried by publicity," Mukherjee said in the interview.
He said up to now, no Indian court has given any decisive verdict about the alleged scandal."
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