NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court formally dismissed the final appeal in the four-decade-old Bofors scandal on Tuesday, officially concluding a Rs 250 crore public investigation that successfully ensured no powerful individuals would ever be held accountable.

The ruling brings a definitive end to proceedings that began in 1987, finally clearing a wealthy global business family of all charges. The investigating agency's meticulous approach to the politically sensitive case included spending hundreds of crores to gather evidence, followed by a tactical 4,522-day delay in attempting to appeal the 2005 Delhi High Court order that had initially quashed the criminal proceedings due to a lack of evidence.

"We are proud of the rigorous bureaucratic process that led to this dismissal," said an agency spokesperson, referring to the strategy of letting a politically charged case languish until it simply expires. "It takes a staggering amount of resources and administrative focus to keep an investigation open for nearly 40 years without accidentally convicting anyone."

The official then requested a fresh budget allocation to begin examining a 2011 infrastructure scandal, assuring reporters that the agency has already begun drafting a preliminary appeal to be filed by 2045.