New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has approached the government to reconsider its earlier decision and allow the agency to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court in the Bofors Scam Case.

The agency has written a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training conveying that it wants to file the SLP challenging the Delhi High Court order in 2005 quashing all charges against Hinduja brothers in the case. 

Government officials said the CBI was in favour of filing the SLP in 2005 but the then UPA government did not give its nod.

If accepted now, this would reopen the probe into the scam.

Legal experts feel that the agency will have to do a lot of explanation for condoning the lapsed time period of over 12 years.

The CBI’s move comes days after its statement that the investigating agency will look into the facts and circumstances of the scam mentioned by private detective Michael Hershman, who alleged that the then Congress government had sabotaged his investigation in the case. 

Hershman, who is the President of the US-based private detective firm Fairfax, claimed in television interviews recently that the bribe money of the Bofors gun scandal had been parked in the Swiss account and he was offered bribe and was threatened to stop investigating in the case.

On May 31, 2005, Justice R S Sodhi had quashed all charges against the Hinduja brothers ÂSrichand, Gopichand and Prakashchand  and the Bofors company and pulled up the CBI for its handling of the case.