POLITICAL ROBBERS HAVE NO RIGHT TO ROAM THE STREETS AFTER LOOTING US

Goa is witnessing a spate of robberies, often in broad daylight. Chains have been snatched, houses have been broken into and thieves have decamped with gold and jewellery after spraying victims to sleep. But these robbers have robbed people and broken into homes. They are almost saints compared to political robbers who have robbed our treasury and our State. And since this is the season of JICA and Louis Berger, there is a severe outpouring of rage and anger at former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat roaming the streets of Goa free along with his relatives like Pinky Lawande in whose home several files of land conversions during Kamat’s tenure were found. 

And in his home dotted with BMW and other cars which cost up to a crore of rupees, wads of foreign currency were recovered. These are ugly sights. And when the people of Goa see one of the ex-minister’s involved in the JICA bribery racket Churchill Alemao in jail and Digambar Kamat out of it, the buzz on the streets, tavernas, tintos and dinner tables centres around the fact that if justice needs to be really delivered, both Kamat and Lawande because they are in the spotlight now – should be arrested, because political robbers have no right to roam the streets free after looting us. 

The Crime Branch and this government, if they have to really refute the charges of being complicit in not doing a watertight presentation before the Special Court, thereby resulting in the Honourable Court, giving anticipatory bail to Digambar Kamat; needs to make a watertight submission for the High Court to overturn the Special Court’s order and cancel his bail. And going by the submissions of the Crime Branch in opposing Kamat’s bail, it should arrest him immediately because of the nature of its submissions.

The Special Court has given him bail, but the people’s court hasn’t. And his close supporters, benefactors, and Godmen, do not constitute the People’s court. And if they claim that they too are judges in the People’s court then they should, like judges in Courts, recuse themselves from judging Digambar Kamat, because they have vested interests.

And the People’s court is disgusted – yes disgusted – by the manner in which the former Chief Minister is using his community to encircle him in a protective ring and make this an issue of prestige for his community, which can do no wrong, can’t be judged and is all powerful. But this power will be short lived because the community of Goans who believe in equality before law and hate it when robbers roam the streets, will cut short this power. And even powerful mining barons, both past and present, of his community, who are shamelessly doing backroom diplomacy with the BJP to keep Kamat out of jail, should realise that enough is enough. As for the media, yes there were attempts to try and keep Herald “in check”, from the Kamat camp after the fresh raids by the ED and the Crime Branch. They were politely and firmly told that they are knocking on the wrong door, because Herald’s  door is the people’s door and the right thinking people of Goa want Digambar Kamat in jail as much as they want others including Churchill Alemao to be punished for his wrong doings.

Moreover, the Special Court has very explicitly stated that bail was given to Digambar Kamat not on merit but on technicality. This means that the court finds no merit in Digambar Kamat’s argument that he needs his freedom because he is not guilty of the charges against him, or that he will not hamper the course of investigations. It, however, found merit in the technical lapse of the Crime Branch (according to the court) of not recording the reasons for this arrest in writing. While this reasoning can be challenged in the High Court, the prima facie involvement of Digambar Kamat in this bribery case is explicit even in the court’s eyes. And in the rejection of the bail of Churchill Alemao, who has grounds of challenging his imprisonment on grounds of parity, lies the underlying fact, that on merit, Digambar Kamat needs to be in jail as much as Alemao does.

The Crime Branch has, after all, called him the “main conspirator”. Referring to the deposition of  JICA funded project Director A M Wachasundar to the Crime Branch, sources in  the investigation team have told Herald (as we have reported), “Kamat told him (Wachasundar) that why should only Churchill get all the benefits of the (JICA) project. He being the chief minister and the head of the State has lot of political compulsions and expenses,” a source told Herald, quoting from the 100-odd page copy submitted to the High Court. Wachasundar, presently in judicial custody for criminal conspiracy and corruption, also confessed that Kamat asked him to pressurize Louis Berger to pay the bribe to him as well. 

But Mr Kamat is not alone. This whole tribe of political robbers and their relations should be behind bars and not in posh bungalows driving BMWs and Jaguars. And we say this emphatically. Mr Manohar Parrikar is not in this with clean hands. He may not have been a party to corruption but he has protected people like ex TCP Minister Babush Monserrate, by making false promises in the Assembly, on March 22, 2013, of going after political robbers, naming Atanasio Monserrate as the TCP Minister when cash payments were made to get land conversions done. Nothing was done to take action against Monserrate.

So if a Pinky Lawande, Digambar Kamat’s brother-in-law, has been “caught” with files of land conversions in his office, why should Babush Monserrate roam the streets free? He was not just Kamat’s TCP minster during the conversions that took place for the now scrapped 2011 plan but also Parrikar’s TCP minister for the 2021 plan. We ask, what stops the Crime Branch from arresting Pinky Lawande? Is it waiting for Mr Lawande to get anticipatory bail? Or a NOC from the all powerful Swamy, who takes all decisions as mining barons, industrialists, police officers and politicians genuflect at his feet?

Why is Babush Monseratte, free for that matter, if the government has information as claimed by Parrikar in the Assembly? (Herald has copies of his Assembly speech.)

Political robbers cannot walk free. And this goes for those in the BJP too. You are on our radar too, land grabbers and looters from Serula to Sanvordem. We want the streets to be free of this class of garbage and we want it removed non-segregated.