Team Herald
PANJIM: The JMFC Panjim on Monday reprimanded the investigation officer and public prosecutor in open court for taking the GCA forgery offence lightly. The JMFC also extended remand of three senior officials of Goa Cricket Association (GCA) for a further four days.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Vijayalaxmi Shivolkar pointed out that on June 15 when GCA President Chetan Dessai, Secretary Vinod Phadke and Treasurer Akbar Mulla were produced before her, the public prosecutor was absent while seeking remand, while the investigating officer (IO) asked for just one day police custody.
“You were not there when the accused were brought for remand. The investigating officer asked for only one day police custody stating that a minutes of meeting book (of GCA) is yet to be recovered from the accused,” the Judge told public prosecutor Poonam Bharne court.
“The PP should have come before the court seeking remand in such serious offences. The charges are serious and PP was not there. For such serious offence, you have taken things lightly,” the judge said.
“The picture has been projected before the appellate authority that I had given only one day remand for the accused despite such serious charges against them,” she added.
The court which heard the arguments for bail filed by the trio adjourned the case to Wednesday afternoon and extended police custody of the accused by another four days asking the investigating agency to complete the probe.
The Economic Offences Cell of Goa Police had arrested Dessai, Phadke and Mulla after GCA life member Vilas Desai had filed a case against them alleging their involvement in a Rs 3.13 crore forgery.
Seeking bail for Dessai and Phadke, senior lawyer Subodh Kantak argued that the accused were arrested despite cooperating with the investigating agency. He said that all three accused had filed a complaint against unknown persons about the forgery (of the money sanctioned by BBCI) even before the complaint against them was filed.
Kantak argued that two FIRs cannot be registered in relation to the same case, and the first complaint filed by the trio should have been investigated. Opposing the prosecution argument that custodial interrogation of all three was required to recover the minutes book which has gone missing, Kantak said the book is irrelevant because the police complaint mentions that the issue about the cheque was never taken up in the meeting.
Kantak said that signatures of all three accused were forged to open the bank account where the cheques amounting to Rs 3.13 crore were encashed.
Advocate Shailendra Bhobe representing the third accused (Mulla) said his client has been in police custody for five days and they have not been able to get any evidence against him.
Bharne said custody of the accused is required so that they don’t tamper with evidence. She said the investigating agency has to search and seal the GCA office so that important documents relevant to the case are not destroyed.
