PANJIM: Former PWD minister Churchill Alemao, currently in custody, has charged Crime Branch with filing an incomplete chargesheet in the Louis Berger bribery scam, claiming that crucial evidence is not a part of the voluminous report.
Defence Counsel Arun Bras De Sa, arguing on the politician’s bail application before the Special Court, questioned the authenticity of the chargesheet that names Alemao and six others as accused in the case and sought further investigation.
“Documents pertaining to JICA are not part of the chargesheet. CB mentioned that they received case-related information via email from the US court but none of these are annexed. The investigation agency has failed to produce credible evidence proving Alemao’s guilt,” he argued.
Alemao submitted a fresh application for bail last week soon after CB filed a chargesheet in the case under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence) of IPC and Sections 7, 8, 9 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
De Sa pointed out that Digambar Kamat is named as ‘suspect’, which is another reason to show that the chargesheet is incomplete. He stated that the documents have not been verified and the crucial statement of James McClung has not yet been recorded.
“This case is not based on the judicial findings of the US court but till date, it is merely upon a challan filed before the said court and primarily on media reports. What evidence does CB have to show that LB gave money to Soni in Delhi to deliver in Goa,” he questioned, adding that witnesses have not spelt out the exact bribe amount in their statements. He added that the police technical committee scrutinized JICA-related documents to ascertain irregularities, which clearly means CB is in possession of all files. “There are many contradictions in Sec 164 CrPC statements and Soni is nowhere mentioned as hawala operator,” the counsel added.
SPP Rajiv Gomes conceded contradictions in the statements with regards to date, time and the exact amount and told the court that the incident took place nearly five years ago.
Gomes rubbished the defence claim that the chargesheet was incomplete stating that probe against Alemao were complete. The court adjourned the matter for Wednesday.
