Goa CM wants Indian judiciary to emulate US courts

Lauding the US judiciary for its ruling on the Louis Berger international bribery scam, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Monday asked the Indian judiciary to "incorporate" such an approach.

Parsekar was speaking during a discussion in the legislative assembly on the Louis Berger bribery case in which a Goa minister and some officials have been indicted for receiving bribes.

"I whole-heartedly congratulate the US judiciary because those who offered the bribe were accounted for, and were also fined in order to compound the case. I think it is necessary that our judicial system should also incorporate this approach. I congratulate the US judiciary," Parsekar said.

Top officials of Louis Berger have already pleaded guilty in a New Jersey District Court to offering bribes of $3.9 million to secure contracts in countries such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Kuwait.

While the announcement by the US Justice Department did not identify the politicians and officials who were offered bribes, the documents revealed that $976,630 was paid in bribes during 2009-2010 to a Goa minister and other officials.

Louis Berger was part of a consortium that eventually won a contract to execute a multi-billion dollar water and sewerage project in Goa funded by the Japan International Co-Operation Agency (JICA).

The project was cleared in 2010 by a Congress-led coalition government, casting doubts over the alleged role played by then chief minister Digambar Kamat and former Public Works Department minister Churchill Alemao.

Both have denied any links with the consultancy firm.