Former CM Digambar plays down allegations of receiving bribes

Team Herald
PANJIM: Former chief minister Digambar Kamat has played down allegations of receiving bribes. Arguments before the High Court of Bombay at Goa through his counsel Advocate Surendra Desai on Monday points to confessions of former LB employees in the US Court disclosing that ‘bribe was paid to a minister’.
“The confession before the US court is that bribe was paid to ‘a minister’ and not ‘a chief minister’. Minister does not include chief minister,” Desai told the bench on the first day of arguments, a week after the prosecution competed its closing arguments challenging the Special Court’s order granting the sitting legislator anticipatory bail.
The defence counsel alleged that all the charges against Kamat are politically motivated with the government not willing to hand over the case to CBI, as it wants to control the ongoing investigation.
“The case is politically motivated. The government has directed its servant (CB) to register FIR and investigate. It did not hand over the case investigation to CBI, as it wanted to control the investigation by its servants,” he alleged.
Desai also stated that no reasonable ground was recorded in the case diaries before August 7, seeking Kamat’s arrest. However, reasons such as tracing the missing JICA files, recovery of the bribe money and his non-cooperation with the investigation agency, were cited in the case diary dated August 9. “The CB’s submission to court on August 7, contending necessity of my arrest. There was no reason recorded before this date and a reason was manufactured on August 9,” he said.
The defence will continue its arguments on Tuesday afternoon.