TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Suspecting a well planned conspiracy between the builder and the contractor to cheat gullible investors by constructing a substandard building, the State has sought the custodial interrogation of building contractor Vishwas B Dessai to find out the money that has exchanged hands to obtain building permissions and occupancy certificate and to unearth the exact cause behind the building collapse.
After hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defence lawyers, Special Judge Nutan Sardesai has reserved orders on Dessai’s bail plea to January 13.
Making a forceful plea for custodial interrogation of the contractor before the Special Judge Nutan Sardesai, Special Public Prosecutor Adv Rajiv Gomes has prayed for the dismissal of the anticipatory bail application of the contractor on a host of reasons. “This well planned conspiracy was hatched by the rich and the powerful which has resulted in the death of innocent poor workers. We have to get to the root of the problem. The investigating office has to find out how the builder and contractor had managed to get the building permissions and occupancy certificate. We have to find out the illegal gratification aspect, as to how much (money) exchanged hands,” Adv Gomes submitted.
He pointed out that no soil testing was done by the contractor before undertaking the work, while alleging manipulation on the recruitment of the workers and use of crushed gravel instead of sand. “We have to obtain expert opinion on the nature and type of construction, the flaws in the RCC designs and the absence of soil testing,” Adv Gomes told the court.
Saying that the contractor split the 6000 sq. mts property into plots of 2000 sq mts to ensure that the construction file does not reach to the chief town planner, the prosecution said the occupancy certificate was issued when the building was under construction. “The contractor has no moral right to apply for anticipatory bail. They should have cooperated with the police and help in the rescue operation and the recovery of bodies,” he said
Adv Gomes submitted that a case stands registered against the contractor at the Canacona police station for a similar offence. ‘The builder and contractor had planned to build 120 flats in the reclaimed land in three phases. The poor and the innocent have died in the collapse. Just imagine the building had to collapse after people had fully occupied the 120 flats,” he said.
Defence lawyer Adv Prakash Prabhudessai, however, argued there’s no need for custodial interrogation when his client has agreed to fully cooperate with the investigations. “Nothing has been brought on record to show that my client is involved in illegal gratification. Similarly, no case is made out if my client is found with disproportionate assets. The provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be applied to my client. The office of my client has been sealed. They can open the seal and lay their hands on the documents, including list of suppliers,” Adv Prabhudesai added.
