Goa court issues NBW against former CM, later revokes it

A local court on Thursday issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat for repeated non-appearance in connection with the multi-crore sewerage scam case, but revoked it hours later.

Kamat, who headed the Congress-led alliance government from 2007-2012, had failed to appear before the court on two previous occasions despite summons issued to him.

The Principal District and Sessions Court revoked the NBW after Kamat's counsel Surendra Desai informed judge Irshad Aga that the former Chief Minister could not attend court because he was indisposed during the past hearings.

Desai could not be contacted for more on why Kamat skipped the previous hearings.

Former chief ministers Churchill Alemao and Digambar Kamat, along with some government officials, have been accused of allegedly accepting a $976,630 (Rs 6.30 crore, approximately) bribe in 2010 from the officials of US-based Louis Berger consultancy firm to secure implementation rights of a multi-billion dollar water and sewerage project in Goa worth Rs 1,031 crore and funded by the Japan International Co-Operation Agency (JICA).

Top officials linked to the JICA project as well as senior Louis Berger employees have been arrested by the Crime Branch, along with Alemao.

Kamat has been charged with criminal conspiracy (Section 120-b) and tampering with evidence (Section 201) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The FIR was first filed after Louis Berger headquarters in the US discovered during its internal audit that bribes had been paid to elected representatives and government officials in Goa for securing contracts.

--IANS

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