Team Herald
PANJIM: The North Goa District & Sessions Court adjourned the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of Haresh Melwani of H L Nathurmal Mining Company, to June 20.
When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) represented by Public Prosecutor G Kirtani sought time to file a reply citing that the investigation officer was not in the State. Defence counsel D Dhond also sought time to reply to the intervention plea filed by a social activist last week.
Last month SIT had issued summons to the company’s director to appear before. Sources said Melwani moved the court seeking anticipatory bail fearing arrest. SIT is investigating the mining scam comprising of 183 mining leases. A total of eight directors of eight different mining companies were issued summons to appear on specified dates.
With IO Dattaguru Sawant not in Goa, the questioning of directors of Chowgule and Company Ltd, and Talaulikar & Sons Pvt Ltd, besides the owner of G N Agarwal Mining Pvt Ltd, have been postponed.
The last questioning was of the representatives of Bandekar Brother Pvt Ltd (RNSB Group) while the officials of Timblo Private Limited who were summoned on June 6 did not depose citing a spelling mistake in the summons letter addressed to the firm.
“The firm representative has sent a letter to the SIT informing they are not Timble Pvt Ltd as mentioned in the summons letter, and neither do they have any Managing Director,” said an official quoting the letter.
The SIT had summoned the Managing Director of Timble Pvt Ltd last Tuesday. SP Priyanka Kashyap said that in the letter to SIT, the company stated they are not mining lease holders but mining exporters and hence the sections under which the alleged illegal mining case is being probed, does not apply to them.
