Friday, January 13 2006 15:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Janata Dal-United (JD-U) President George Fernandes today (Jan 13, 2006) demanded dismissal of Law Minister H R Bhardwaj and Additional Solicitor General B Dutta following Government's stand before British authorities that there was no link between the funds in two accounts of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and the pay offs in the Bofors case.

"He (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) must answer the nation as to whether he was aware that a law officer in his Government was undermining the proceedings of courts and the autonomy of the CBI or whether he is party to this misuse of his Government functionaries and bodies by the Chairperson of United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Sonia Gandhi," he said at a press conference here.

He said it was 'shocking' that the UPA Government was using all its might to illegally bury the criminal deeds of a foreign citizen and personal friend of Gandhi.

The former Defence Minister said, "Whatever might be the Prime Minister's answer, the very least he can now do to remove the black blot is to dismiss his Law Minister and Additional Solicitor General B Dutta."

To a question, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Convenor said the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government at the Centre should have appealed before Supreme Court against the High Court giving clean chit to Quattrocchi.

Fernandes also demanded that the CBI should bring investigators in Switzerland and Sweden into, what was always essentially an international investigation, so that the entire truth about where the Bofors money went was unraveled once and for all.

Accusing the Centre of functioning as per 'dictates' of its Chairperson, he said it has "once again disgraced itself by blatantly interfering in the processes of investigation and justice concerning the Bofors case."