Indian Court Drops Hinduja Corruption Charges

An Indian court today threw out charges against the billionaire Hinduja brothers, who were accused of taking kickbacks from an Indian arms deal in 1986, because of a technical error by the prosecutors.

The Hinduja brothers - Srichand and Gopichand, who are British citizens, and Prakash, a Swiss citizen - were accused of accepting $8.3m (£5.7m) in illegal commissions from the defunct Swedish weapons maker Bofors AB to facilitate the sale of howitzers to the Indian army.

The brothers have denied that the money Bofors paid into their Swiss bank accounts was a kickback for brokering the gun deal, but have not explained what it was for. Commissions in defence deals are outlawed in India, and offenders face up to seven years in prison.

Delhi high court Justice RS Sodhi said India's central bureau of investigation, an investigating and prosecuting agency that handles large and complicated cases, had made a technical error and could resubmit the charges once it corrects the fault.

The judge agreed with the Hindujas that the investigation bureau erred when it failed to seek consent from the government-appointed central vigilance commission, which oversees the course of corruption cases, to proceed with the prosecution.

Mr Sodhi said bail and travel restrictions would remain in effect. The conditions, which require one brother to remain in India at all times as a guarantee that the others will return, were imposed by the supreme court in January 2001. Each brother had to post $3.5m bail.

The Hinduja Group has interests in banking, oil, cable TV and internet services.