Churchill's bail rejected again, Digambar's bail-grant doesn't help
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 24 August 2015 11:16 IST
The special CBI court gave a second surprise today by rejecting the bail application of former PWD minister Churchill Alemao for the second consecutive time.
He had made a fresh application for bail after former chief minister Digambar Kamat was granted anticipatory bail.
Both of them are charged to be ‘main conspirators’ in the Louis Berger bribery case.
Granting anticipatory bail to prevent Kamat from getting arrested, while rejecting Alemao’s bail after arrest, was the first surprise.
The exact grounds on which Alemao’s bail is rejected would be known once the order is uploaded on the court website at 4 pm today.
Alemao lawyer Shrikant Shivade, hired from Mumbai, had argued on the basis of parity of law, stating that same law should be applied to both since both have similar charges.
Kamat was released mainly on the grounds of section 41-A of CrPC, which Adv Shivade had claimed that it applies more to Alemao than Kamat.
Alemao has already been arrested by police on 5th August and has been remanded to judicial custody from 13 July.
Kamat however was never arrested.
Special judge B P Deshpande had rejected Alemao’s bail on 17th August while Kamat was granted anticipatory bail on 19th August.
While the crime branch of Goa police has challenged Kamat’s order in the high court, Alemao made a fresh plea before the same CBI court on 20th August.
Crime branch lawyer Adv Rajiv Gomes had however countered Alemao’s first contention that the fresh bail plea is made in the ‘changed circumstances’.
He had argued that circumstances have not changed since his bail was rejected on 17th August and Alemao’s release could hamper the probe.
Adv Gomes had also argued that all the technical requirements under section 41-A were fulfilled, including citing reason for Alemao’s arrest in the police diary, which was not done in case of Kamat.
Another major difference was that the crime branch had cited series of offences to prove Alemao’s criminal background while no strong case could be made to prove Kamat’s criminal background, except the mining scam, in which he has not been convicted.
Alemao’s lawyer had argued, at the time of second bail application, that his client was acquitted in most of the cases cited by the crime branch.
Both Kamat and Alemao Kamat are facing a serious charge of accepting huge amount of bribe from Louis Berger International Inc., the US-based consultancy firm.
The firm has admitted before the Department of Justice in New Jersey of paying bribes of total Rs six crore to ‘a’ minister and government officials in Goa to get the consultancy contract of JICA project.
Louis Berger was selected for consultancy to implement the project, worth Rs 1031 crore, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Churchill should have made an argument that they rejected his plea because he is a 'god-fearing', 'Vailankani-visiting' Kiristav, where as, Digamber is a Swami-disciple, Saraswat Bamon, who always win, no matter where and what.
I'm surprised his lawyer didn't speak of this, he also has Micky Pacheco as a case-in-point.