Nagpur: Staunchly defending the party's stand on the Bofors issue, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Pramod Mahajan today (Apr 12, 2004) questioned as to why the then Congress Government did not stop Malaysian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi from leaving the country when the needle of suspicion were pointed at him in the payoff case.

Talking to reporters, Mahajan sought to defend the Bofors issue and denied involvement of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani in "planting a story" in a leading English daily.

He said since Congress has said it is 18-year-old case, but can anybody escape from the long arms of law, on this count, he asked.

On why National Democratic Alliance (NDA) failed to bring back Quattrocchi from Malaysia during its regime, Mahajan said CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) tried its best in the Malaysian court as India is having an extradition treaty with Malaysia.

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Turning the table on Congress, he asked why did the Congress Government allow Quattrocchi to leave the country when his involvement was suspected in the pay off.

Quattrocchi was allegedly staying at Rajiv Gandhi's place and was meeting officials in what capacity, he questioned.

"We will arrest Quattrocchi at the airport, if he is invited for tea by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi now," Mahajan quipped.

He denied that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was pressurising CBI in Bofors investigation. Ridiculing Congress demand for a CBI probe in to AK 47 deal, Mahajan said on one side the party was reposing a faith on CBI and on other hand, doubting the autonomy of CBI in Bofors case.