St Cruz MLA Babush Monseratte, seems to have literally extricated himself from the very serious charges of rape and trafficking, mainly due to the performance of his legal team and the literally shaky prosecution which failed to tie up several lose ends of the investigation.
However, managing a conditional bail, in a case like this, cannot be reason to simply forget the charges, put it on the back burner, and actually use it as a sympathy card for Monseratte to further his political ambitions.
It is as clear as day that Babush the politician and a player,in the 2017 election, is far more valuable to political parties which want to do business with him, than Babush the rape accused. The moral fabric of our political parties is completely non-existent. There has been no statement or call for action from the Crime Branch and the government to expedite the investigation to oppose his bail and bring to the fore more material acts in order to justify the charges. The counter argument to this, put forward by Camp Babush, is that the incident did not happen and hence the Crime Branch has nothing to prove. By no means can this be the most conclusive and all pervasive line. The Children’s Court which granted him bail did not conclude that he was innocent. It only came down heavily on the prosecution for not being able to conclusively establish their charges.
Now, police investigation, and that too against a seasoned politician, who has had a brush with the law once too often and can handle such situations well, needs to be completely above the board. It also has to appear to be above board. Here we have a situation where certain police officials, involved with the investigation directly or in a position to influence it have been known to be close to the politician. This may not imply that sections of the police have diluted the case against Monseratte. But it surely calls for an independent scrutiny to drive home the point that the government is officially taking an impartial, hands off approach.
However that doesn’t seem to be the case. In a situation like this all politicial parties would have, in any other case, run a relentless campaign to nail an MLA booked for rape and trafficking. In Monserrate’s case, as an unattached MLA, he is nobody’s friend since he does not have a party. But the exact opposite has happened. Most parties have kept their doors open for Monserrate to get “attached”.
But Monserrate gets his undeserved strength from a polity which is fed on his largesse. This is a shocking indictment of a system where a politician out on bail on a rape charge, becomes the instant darling of the political class. His release on bail, prompted an absolute frenzy as if he had won a major election with him diving straight to a temple and then Chapel before driving home. Monserrate has commanded the life-long loyalty of most people in Taleigao by being the perfect bill collector and payer. From school fees and uniforms to power and water bills, to funds for weddings, hospital expenses and funerals have been cleared from his office.
But is a Robinhood above the law? Should this kind of a blatant following, purely on the basis of financial help poured in by the MLA go completely unquestioned? And can this be a shield to ward off all charges, including one of rape. The minor victim’s complaint and her statements has been torn to shreds by Monserrate’s legal team. And it is the state’s responsibility to counter it. But even then, the defense lawyers forceful argument in favour of his client cannot be seen as a clean chit to Monserrate.
As the sordid la affaire Babush is being played out, it is time for all voters of Goa to seriously introspect. Can such important decisions on picking our right leaders to represent us in the Assembly be dictated according to personal benefits the politician gives us? If that is the case, issues will permanently take a back seat and personalities with all their social, moral and ethical flaws will continue to win elections.
In conclusion, the case itself has to move forward by handing over the probe to an independent central government agency like the CBI. This should be done notwithstanding the go ahead of the Prosecution department to the Crime Branch to appeal against Monserrate’s bail order in the High Court. The closure of this case in the right way and the honest way is needed to restore confidence in the system which is at a low.
