Kuala Lumpur: The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will pursue Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi wherever he goes should the Kuala Lumpur High Court let him go in the extradition case against him, a senior agency official said in Kuala Lumpur on December 12.

"The case in India still survives. The case against Quattrocchi does not die," CBI Deputy Inspector General Om Prakash Malhotra said on the eve of the High Court judgement on India's appeal for a review of a session's court verdict rejecting plea for Quattrocchi's extradition to stand trial in the Bofors payoff case.

"We will pursue him wherever he goes, depending on the legal circumstances," said the official, who has been assigned the Bofors investigation for the past two years and who is here in connection with the case.

Malaysian High Court judge Augustine Paul will announce his decision tomorrow (Dec 13) whether an earlier ruling by the lower Court to discharge the Italian should be reviewed.

The appeal for the review was based on the fact that the sessions court judge's decision to discharge Quattrocchi was founded on a preliminary objection raised by his counsel without giving India a chance to produce relevant documents, the CBI feels.

India asked Malaysia to open extradition proceedings against Quattrocchi two years ago.

Quattrocchi has lived in Malaysia since 1993 after spending 27 years in India, where he became a friend of the family of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He maintains that the case against him is politically motivated.

The CBI says it has documented evidence of the money trail between Quattrocchi and Bofors.

The CBI team in Kuala Lumpur was disappointed that India's own local counsel was barred from arguing New Delhi's case for extradition, which was instead left to Malaysia's deputy public prosecutor.

The sessions court judge who ruled in Quattrocchi's favour had called the Indian case against him "vague".

And High Court Judge Paul had asked for several clarifications about the Indian legal system.

Justice Paul, when asked by the prosecutor to withhold Quattrocchi's passport until he had made his decision, had said he trusted the Italian's integrity to remain in the country.

The Attorney-General of Malaysia may instruct the prosecutor to lodge an appeal if Judge Paul determines there is no need for a review.

"If it is against us we will explore the option of challenging the ruling," said Malhotra.

Several court decisions appeared to be going India's way until the case reverted to the sessions court, which abruptly threw the case out on December 2.

Quattrocchi has said that he intends to go to Italy to visit his pregnant daughter if the court releases him.

The two-member CBI team is expected to return to New Delhi on December 14.

PTI