Team Herald
MARGAO: Principal South Goa District and Sessions Judge Nutan Sardessai has directed Inspector General of Prisons (IGP) Elvis Gomes to act on the complaint filed by Adv Aires Rodrigues over the VIP treatment being given to former minister Mickky Pacheco at Sada Jail. Judge Sardessai, who was on a weeklong leave, resumed duties on Saturday.
In his complaint to Judge Sardessai last week, Adv Rodrigues alleged that Mickky was again allowed to use a mobile phone within the jail precincts and allowed unauthorized visitors. He sought that Mickky be shifted to Colvale Jail in North Goa, where the jail authorities would be in a better position to monitor his conduct and ensure he did not violate rules. Adv Rodrigues had stated that many people had received calls from Mickky, whose phone number is 9850479762, and that the number was registered in the name of in the name of Fransa Travels – a company owned by Mickky.
He further alleged that all the calls made from that number over the last three months were from Sada jail, which proved beyond any doubt the nexus between the Pacheco and the jail authorities.
Adv Rodrigues stressed that every convict should be treated as per the jail rules and that Mickky should not be given preferential treatment just because he was influential. He requested the District and Sessions Judge Nutan Sardessai to seek a report from Sada jail authorities on the issue and urged her to recommend appropriate action against the officers who flouted the rules for Mickky.
He also pointed out that that the former minister, who is undergoing a six-month jail sentence that ends on December 1, would not be entitled to any remission of sentence as he has been already documented for acts of indiscipline and violation of jail rules.
On June 16 and July 22, Adv Rodrigues had complained about VIP treatment being given to Mickky. The same was stopped after Judge Sardessai paid surprise visits to Sada jail.
