New Delhi, June 12: Winning the extradition case is not the only reason for the smile on Ottavio Quattrocchi’s face. If the Argentine court has its way, the Bofors case accused might even get back the money he has spent fighting the legal battle.

The court in El Dorado found CBI’s plea against Quattrocchi so frivolous that it has asked the agency to pay legal expenses incurred by the Italian businessman, agency reports from Buenos Aires claimed today.

The CBI is still trying to figure out the reasons for losing the case. The two officers who were sent on the ‘Q’ mission to Argentina returned last night.

They were unaware that judge Harichi Doi had asked the agency to pay any money to Quattrocchi. But they accepted that they might have lost the meaning of the order in the translation since the court proceedings were held in Spanish.

Translation trouble was also cited as a reason for the delay in applying for the extradition.

The costs for the CBI could be steep as Quattrocchi was detained in February on the basis of an international red corner notice.

He has been in Argentina since then.

The two officers — director of prosecution S.K. Sharma and superintendent of police Keshav Mishra — did not get the translated copy of the preliminary order delivered on Saturday.

The agency claimed the officers were merely told by their lawyer that the extradition plea had been rejected.

The decision to send Sharma, who had earlier given the opinion that there was no case against Quattrocchi, has come under criticism.

The agency is trying to get the Indian embassy in Buenos Aires to find out if the judge had spoken of damages.

A detailed order will arrive tomorrow.

The agency will have to make up its mind on filing an appeal in the Argentine supreme court by June 18, the deadline set by the local court. That decision rests with the law officers of the government.

The CBI director is on holiday in Chicago. In his absence, the case for an appeal will have to be readied and the government’s permission taken. It will be tough to complete these formalities in this short time.

The agency is facing the heat over the way it has handled the case.

Quattrocchi’s lawyer Alejandro Freeland has been quoted as saying the CBI’s case was incomplete and the agency did not furnish all papers, including two judgments by Delhi High Court.