New Delhi, Dec. 22: The last legal cloud on P.V. Narasimha Rao lifted today — but eight years too late.

A Delhi court acquitted the former Prime Minister, controversial godman Chandraswami and his associate Kailash Nath Agarwal, alias Mamaji, in the Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case.

Special Judge Dinesh Dayal, while acquitting Rao, said there were enough “contradictions” in the late pickle tycoon’s evidence against the high-profile accused.

“I find that Lakhubhai Pathak’s evidence is not reliable and it has not been corroborated. His evidence has been constantly changing and there has been contradictions on vital aspects of the case,” the judge said. The CBI also came in for attack for not being able to explain the “inordinate delay” in filing the case and for not questioning Pathak. “The inordinate delay in filing the case has not been explained by the prosecution,” Dayal observed.

The CBI had alleged that in 1983, Rao, as foreign minister, had conspired with Chandraswami and Mamaji at a New York hotel to dupe the UK-based businessman of $100,000 with the promise of a contract for supply of newsprint and paper pulp in India.

For Rao, the acquittal ended a long wait. Earlier, a city court had absolved him of the charges in the St Kitts forgery case. Even in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery case, Delhi High Court had turned down a lower court order convicting him. In that case, the CBI had refused to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Immediately after the verdict, Rao, who was present in the Vigyan Bhavan annexe courtroom, said: “I’m very happy.” But he refused to comment on the political fallout of the judgment, saying: “I do not want to make any political comments now.”

Rao’s lawyer Kapil Sibal, whom the former Prime Minister embraced after the verdict, said his client had told him that he was “waiting since eight years for this moment”. “Each citizen of this country should be happy that our prime ministers are not involved in any such corrupt practices,” Sibal added.

Chandraswami described the ruling as a “positive decision”, while Mamaji said “truth has prevailed”.