TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Is Special Public Prosecutor Adv Rajiv Gomes representing the State before the Special Court, Margao, in the Canacona building collapse case on his way out?
Sources in the know said the police department has moved the Under Secretary, Home, with a plea to replace Adv Gomes with some other public prosecutor. Till Saturday evening, there was no news of the replacement of the SPP, but Crime Branch officials have confirmed plans to replace Adv Gomes. Crime Branch, SP Karthik Kashyap, when contacted preferred to neither deny nor confirm the move to replace Adv Gomes saying he is presently on leave.
Sources, however, said the file seeking replacement of Adv Gomes was reportedly moved by the police department to the Under Secretary, Home on Friday itself. It is not yet known whether the government plans to hand over the case to senior public prosecutor, Sarojini Sardinha, who is presently on leave.
The government had appointed Adv Gomes as the SPP to represent the State before Special Judge Nutan Sardesai in matters relating to the Canacona building collapse case. Matters came to a head when the SPP dashed off a letter to the Crime Branch seeking the arrest of the former Canacona Municipal Chief Officers Dipak Desai and Pradip Naik in connection with the case. The police were left embarrassed after the SPP submitted before the court that the Crime branch failed to arrest the two former Chief Officers, prompting Judge Sardesai to seek the personal presence of Crime Branch SP Karthik Kashyap to explain the status of the investigation.
Sources in the know said that Adv Gomes’ stand in the Court did not go down well with the police top brass on the premise that the SPP is expected to protect the interest of
the State before the Judge. The arrests of both Dipak Desai and Pradip Naik are believed to have further made matters worse for the SPP, even though Adv Gomes on Friday told the media that investigations in the case are back on track with the Crime Branch sleuths proceeding with the case in the right direction.
