A writ petition filed by one praying to quash criminal proceedings against him will be heard by High Court today
Team Herald
PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Dr Benoy Berry of Spark Healthline Private Limited and asked him to appear before the Goa Lokayukta for re-inquiry.
The court asked Chief Secretary to initiate action against Reis Magos Panchayat member Virendra Shirodkar, against whom Lokayukta had recommended his removal as the panchayat member for failing to act on a complaint filed against illegal allotment of five house numbers to non-existing structures in the No Development Zone (NDZ).
Dr Berry had approached the court praying that the criminal proceedings against his company be dropped. During the hearing, the court first fined Dr Berry for Rs 2 lakh which was later reduced to Rs 1 lakh. The court also asked him to give the fine amount to the COVID-19 relief fund.
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Directorate of Vigilance had registered FIR against the director of Spark Healthline Pvt Ltd, former Reis Magos sarpanch Prasanna Nagvekar and former panchayat secretary Subhodh Prabhu.
Nagvekar and Prabhu have been accused for illegally facilitating allotment of five house numbers to non-existing structures in the property situated in the NDZ.
In September last year, the then Lokayukta P S Misra recommended filing of FIR against Nagvekar and Prabhu for abusing and misusing their position as public servants and to prosecute Dr Berry.
The Lokayukta had also directed the Chief Secretary to remove Virendra Shirodkar as panchayat member for failing to act against the illegality during his tenure as the sarpanch.
The complaint was filed by Advino Fernandes, Sachin Satardekar and Rajesh Dabholkar, all residents of Reis Magos. Adv Hanumant Naik represented the complainants.
Meanwhile, a writ petition filed by Prasanna Nagvekar praying to quash criminal proceedings against him will be heard by the High Court, on Wednesday.
