NEW DELHI - An Indian court on Thursday ordered police to complete a probe into charges that a bribe was paid in a multi-billion dollar deal to buy Scorpene submarines from a French defence firm.The Delhi High Court told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complete its inquiry within three months and report back to a two-judge bench. The judges also told the CBI to press criminal charges against ”accused persons” if it could establish an offence had been committed in the 2.4 billion euro (three billion dollar) deal. “In case CBI decides to close the case after the inquiry then it will have to satisfy the court that there was no evidence of kickbacks involved in the deal,” judges T. S. Thakur and Veena Birbal said.
The order came a month after an Indian pressure group -- the Centre for Public Interest Litigation -- alleged New Delhi was shielding Indian middlemen who took commissions from French defence giant Thales, which owns Armaris, to clinch the deal.