What will come first, Assembly poll or SC order on Digambar’s bail?
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 20 January 2016 22:52 IST
What will come first? The Assembly election or the order of the Supreme Court on former Congress chief minister Digambar Kamat’s anticipatory bail challenged by the BJP government?
The hearing of the case is being adjourned once again today, this time on 9 February.
Goa government has filed a petition before the apex court, challenging the anticipatory bail granted to Kamat in the Louis Berger bribery case by the CBI court and then upheld by the high court.
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.
While managing to skip the arrest, Kamat swept the municipal election held in November, making the BJP bite dust in his Margao constituency.
Now, defence minister Manohar Parrikar has announced that the BJP would definitely win the Margao seat in the forthcoming Assembly election, which is hardly a year ahead.
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.
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.
Assembly polls come or not, Digamber must go to jail for all his 'kale kartuba' and 'ill-gotten wealth'.
Definitely the Assembly elections. This prolonging of Digambars arrest is undoubtedly masterminded by Manohar. Parrikar is turning out to be the fairy tale Tom Tom Cat.. just all noise and no results at least in the South.( starting from the Mission Salcette Campaign till now).
Digamber will contest and definitely win the next assembly elections, a party other than BJP will rule Goa and all will be a fairy tale ending to the Louis Berger case.
The south of Goa was given a step motherly treatment by the Congress under the chief minister-ship of Mr. Rane, with the support of 3 Catholic idiots from the Congress, and now BJP is is just compounding the treatment by rubbing salt over those wounds inflicted by the congress, with the help of another 3 Catholic idiots.
Come what may ... Catholics of Goa will remain what they are.... easy prey to stupid promises.
Its incorrect to say Digambar swept municipality polls. Infact his panel managed only 5 out of possible 10. Therefore digambar's influence has certainly waned over the years.