PANJIM: The Additional Sessions Court-2, Mapusa has upheld the order of the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Mapusa, who had directed the Porvorim police station to register an FIR against former Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, his brother Pramod, Comunidade of Serula attorney Peter Martins and Administrator of Comunidades, North Zone, Irene Sequeira and others.
On October 15, 2015, the JMFC, Mapusa had directed the in-charge of Porvorim police station to register an FIR in terms of the complaint dated 18 October, 2014 of political analyst Trajano D’Mello and to proceed according to law.
Trajano in his complaint dated 4 November, 2014 to the Porvorim police, had alleged that the then Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, Attorney of the Comunidade of Serula, Peter Martins, along with Pramod Parulekar, Irene Sequeira, Administrator of Communidade, North Zone, Mapusa and other office-bearers of the Comunidade of Serula, committed offences punishable under Sections 119, 120, 418, read with 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13 (1)(c)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The complainant had alleged that the accused allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently give away prime land of the Comunidade of Serula, causing wrongful loss to the public institution and wrongful gain for themselves, illegally usurped Comunidade lands at Socorro.
, illegally constructed therein by encroaching upon the Comunidade property, sold premises therein and pocketed the proceeds thereof. The accused persons committed criminal breach of trust and criminal breach of trust by a public servant, as one of the accused was a Minister and had thereby cheated the Comunidade of its property.
But since the Porvorim police refused to register the complaint under Section 154 CrPC, Trajano approached the JMFC, Mapusa, who directed the registration of the FIR against the alleged accused.
Aggrieved by the same, the Porvorim police challenged the order by a revision application, whereby the Court by an order dated 4 October 2016, quashed and set aside the impugned order and remanded the matter back to the JMFC to rehear the parties and pass an order.
Arguing on behalf of the complainant, Adv Abhijit Gosavi and Adv Darshan Gosavi submitted that the complaint included cheating and criminal breach of trust as well as criminal breach of trust by a public servant, which were all cognisable offences, warranting the registration of FIR. He said that the trial court was absolutely right in passing the impugned order, which calls for no interference in revision.
Dismissing the revision application of the police, the Additional Sessions Judge-2 Bosco G F Roberts stated that that there was no merit in it in view of the settled position of law that once a complaint makes out the commission of cognisable offences, the police has to mandatorily register the FIR and start the investigations. The JMFC was fully justified in directing the in-charge of the Porvorim police station to register the FIR in terms of the complaint dated 18 October 2014.
When contacted, Trajano said, “I pursued the matter for eight years with the hope and confidence that the wheels of justice grinds slowly but surely. I also knew that the arms of the law are long enough to get hold of a person, however high position he may be.”
Currently, Dilip Parulekar is BJP State vice president.
