Challenge to Digambar’s bail in SC: Adjournment without arguments
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 08 December 2015 16:36 IST
Goa government’s petition challenging the anticipatory bail granted to former Congress chief minister Digambar Kamat in the Louis Berger bribery case was adjourned to 15 December in the Supreme Court today.
Goa’s Bharatiya Janata Party government is desperately trying to arrest Kamat, who has been inducted in the bribery case along with former PWD minister Churchill Alemao as co-conspirators.
The crime branch of Goa police could nab Alemao and send him behind the bars for over two months (68 days), but could not succeed in taking former Congress CM into custody.
While Alemao was arrested on 5 August, Kamat filed the anticipatory bail before CBI court the same day and managed to get reprieve from the court on 19 August.
The crime branch immediately moved to the high court, challenging the lower court order, but the Bombay high court at Goa upheld the order on 16 October, as the hearing prolonged for almost two months.
The same order, which was is now being challenged by Goa police before the Supreme Court.
Today was the first hearing of the case when Adv Madhusmita sought an adjournment, stating that Kamat’s lawyer Adv Kapil Sibal was in personal difficulty.
Adv Tushar Mehta, the Goa government’s counsel, sought an early date.
The apex court accordingly fixed the next hearing on 15 December.
BACKGROUND
Kamat, the Margao MLA and Alemao, who lost 2012 election, were indicted in the Louis Berger bribery case by filing a FIR on 21 July.
Since then, crime branch of Goa police arrested five persons, including Alemao but did not succeed in taking Kamat into custody.
Both the Congress heavyweights are charged of taking huge amount of bribes, on more than two occasions, from Louis Berger International Inc, a US-based consultancy firm.
The firm is executing a water supply and sewerage project worth Rs 1031 crore, financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The bribery case came to light when James McClung, Asia head of Louis Berger, admitted before the Department of Justice in New Jersey of having paid total bribe of Rs six crore to ‘a’ minister and government officials for getting the award of work.
''Goa’s Bharatiya Janata Party government is desperately trying to arrest Kamat,''
This cannot be considered true at all. The whole state has lost interest in this case and know for sure that the BJP is only trying to show that they are doing something. The government has the audacity to attempt to implicate Mr. Claude Alvares who saved the state of the loot, but are systematic in protecting the people who were part of it.
With all these issues, catholics are bound to develop and alledge of being targeted.
Looks like a ploy of the BJP government to use government machinery for political vendetta. Rti should reveal the amount spent by the government on this entire case. I am sure it's much more than the alleged bribe amount. Where as there has been no further challenges in case of CM's brother in law.. On the other hand the investigating officer in that case are being transferred. If crime branch can investigate the louis beger case that happened many years back at such a quick pace why same speed is not seen in other cases like fr bishmarque and other bjp ministers corruption cases.