MARGAO: The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) today dismissed the complaint filed by Adv. Rajiv Gomes against the formalin in fish case which had rocked the State in July 2018. The court dismissed the complaint as no cognisable offence was made out in the matter.
The complainant has decided to file a revision petition before the Sessions court.
The complainant, Adv. Gomes said, “It wasn’t totally unexpected because they have right from the beginning said that what was found was in permissible limits. I really don’t know but the court must have relied upon the statement of the FDA because the FDA is the authority who decides about these things”.
“The court may have relied upon the statement of the FDA and maybe have found that it was not poison that was found on the fish. However, for me, the battle is not yet over. I am going to file a revision against this order before the Sessions court as I still personally feel and the people of Goa also know that this formalin which was found was a genuine case and it is poisonous, a health hazard to the life of the people,” said Gomes.
A complaint was lodged by Gomes to register an offence against unknown person/transporters of fish from Orissa and other States with the allegation that the formalin was laced on the fish.
Senior Public Prosecutor, Subhash Dessai who argued the case said they had not specified names or any registration numbers of vehicles in the complaint. Since the honourable court thought that there was no substance in his complaint, hence no FIR was registered by the Fatorda police. The complainant had then approached the court of the JMFC for directions to the police to register a complaint in the and probe the matter thoroughly.
The application was rejected today by the JMFC after hearing the case for over a year stating that no cognizable case is made out by the applicant.
It may be recalled that the Food and Drugs Administration Authority official Iva Fernandes had on July 12, 2018 in a surprise check found the test of Formaldehyde chemical use in fish positive at the Wholesale Fish Market, Margao.
Gomes had filed a complaint at the Fatorda Police station on July 29, 2018 asking for an FIR to be filed against the alleged mafia and persons involved in the transportation of fish to Goa the day on which the fish was tested.
The prosecution argued that the complaint was filed much later after the check that triggered the formalin in the fish issue. The Prosecution also said there were no details of the persons intended to be booked, i.e. names of drivers or owners, vehicle registration numbers of the vehicles being allegedly used in the complaint. The Prosecution also said that since the complaint was filed later the fish that was allegedly laced with formalin couldn’t be collected as pieces of circumstantial evidence in the case.
The Prosecution also relied upon independent tests made by senior experts, the results of which they said were negative.
After several hearings over the last year, the court dismissed the case.
