TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: In a major blow to former public works department (PWD) minister Churchill Alemao, Sessions Court Thursday directed the police to register First Information Report (FIR) against the politician and suspended PWD officer P T Parker in the PWD tender scam.
National Students Union of India (NSUI) Goa Vice President Sunil Kawthankar had lodged a complaint with Crime Branch and Panjim police naming the then PWD Minister and Executive Engineer PWD division XXV (Roads) P T Parker in the scam.
Adv Amit Palekar who appeared on behalf of the petitioner had sought the Court to direct the police to register a case and submit a report to the Court.
Parker had allegedly awarded more than 258 tenders each of Rs 5 lakh without publishing advertisements in the dailies or without following any formalities. In his reply, the PWD engineer had stated that
he acted on the directions of the minister.
Kawthankar had also accused Churchill of allegedly cheating, fraud and misappropriation of funds in the PWD, to the tune of Rs 300 crore and filed a case against the former minister.
Since the police were allegedly reluctant to register an offence, Kawthankar had moved the Court seeking its intervention. A legal notice to former Chief Secretary Sanjay K Srivastava was also issued for not taking action despite the report.
