TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Four days after the Colva police registered an FIR (first information report) against the Majorda sarpanch for possessing Portuguese citizenship, Goa Police has moved in once again to register a FIR against a Margao municipal councillor for holding dual citizenship.
Margao police on Sunday registered a FIR against Margao municipal councillor Rosy Pereira for dual citizenship and threat to national security. The police action came following a complaint lodged by Kashinath Shetye, Dr Ketan Govekar and Mahesh Kamat, who called for the registration of the FIR against Pereira. Incidentally, Shetye and Govekar are also complainants in the FIR registered against Majorda Sarpanch Moises Vaz.
Margao police were prompt in booking the MMC councillor under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Passport Act, Foreigners Act and People’s Representation Act. The police have registered an offence on Fernandes under sections 119, 177, 217, 218, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 12-B of IPC..
Margao police s informed that charges under section 125-A of Representation of Peoples Act 1951 for alleged concealing information in affidavit, section 14 of Foreigner Act, sections 4, 5 of Registration of Foreigner Act 1930 and 12 of Passport Act to have been registered against the accused.
In their complaint, the trio alleged that Rosy Pereira had registered her birth in Portugal in the central registry at Lisbon on December 7, 2011. By doing so, the trio alleged that the Councillor now possess dual citizenship and poses a threat to national security.
The complaint stated that the Portuguese consulate in Goa does not even take the trouble of inquiring with the Goa government/Indian government to verify the credentials of the applicants, adding that they only verify whether the mother and father or for that reason whether their grandfather or grandmother is registered or not “They don’t even verify that the mother and father was or for that reason the grandfather or grandmother are their real parents through the Indian government.”
“Carte de Cidade now and previously Bilhette de Identidade , is a proof of your Portugese nationality However, the authorities in India do not check at that stage if a person has surrendered his or her Indian citizenship or
. Literally speaking a person cannot stand for elections, work in Goa government or Indian government, he cannot vote etc .He is dual citizen which is not recognised by Indian government till date”, the trio alleged.
