PANJIM: The charge sheet against Adv. Aires Rodrigues in the 2004 Ribandar Church case was filed with the approval of then Chief Minister Mr. Pratapsingh Rane. This has been revealed in the file notings of the case obtained by Adv. Aires Rodrigues under the Right to Information Act.
The approval by then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane was given on 4th Feb 2005 which was within 48 hours of taking over as Chief Minister on 2nd Feb 2005 after the exit of Mr. Manohar Parrikar.
The file notings also reveal that then Law Secretary Mr. V.P.Shetye on 3rd Feb 2005 called for the file and sent it to the Chief Secretary who after perusing the file on 4th Feb sent it to Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane who on the same day approved the filing of the charge sheet against Adv. Rodrigues
Charge sheets by the police are normally filed after only seeking legal opinion of the Assistant Public Prosecutor or the Director of Prosecution. It is not known as to why in this case the file was sent to the then Chief Minister Mr. Pratapsingh Rane who promptly consented to the filing of the charge sheet.
This is however contrary to the Supreme Court directives that the police investigation and functioning should be free from any political interference.
The 2004 Ribandar church case is now before the High Court which is hearing a petition filed by Crime Branch Police Inspector Sunita Sawant challenging the acquittal of Adv. Aires Rodrigues in the case. The petition is scheduled to be heard by Justice N.A.Britto on 22nd Nov
Adv. Aires Rodrigues and 14 others were charge sheeted for having entered the Ribandar Church premises to demand action against the then Parish priest of Ribandar Fr. Newton Rodrigues for having allegedly molested a 13 year old local girl.
Interestingly the molestation case that was registered against Fr Newton Rodrigues under Sec 354 of IPC and Section 8(2) of the Goa Children’s Act on a complaint filed by the minor girl’s mother was closed after then Governor S.C.Jamir stepped in to rescue the priest from being charge sheeted
1 comments:
This shows that the Gua Pulis cannot work independently. Do they have to take permission of the Political masters to write crime reports? This shows how our system works. Until when will hyenas rule Goa?
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