SC dismisses Goa MLA's plea seeking more time to surrender

The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea of a Goa MLA Francisco Xavier alias Mickky Pacheco, convicted and sentenced for six months for abusing and slapping a junior engineer as a minister in 2006, seeking extension of time to surrender to undergo the jail term.
A bench of Justices F M I Kalifulla and Shiva Kirti Singh rejected Pacheco's petition seeking four weeks to surrender before the Goa police.
A Goa Vikas Party MLA from Nuvem assembly seat, Pacheco, had contended that he is a member of Goa Legislative Assembly and being an elected representative he had certain assignments in his constituency for which he needed more time.

He had also mentioned in his plea that his petition seeking review of the March 30 order of the apex court was also pending.
The Supreme Court had on March 30 dismissed the Goa legislator's appeal against the verdict of Bombay High Court and said he would have to undergo a six-month jail term.
The Goa bench of the High Court had set aside the verdict of a revisional court, which had "brought down" the conviction of the MLA under Section 323 (causing hurt) from the harsher section 353 (assaulting public servant to deter from duty) under the IPC and, instead of sentencing him, ordered his release on 'admonition' under the Probation of Offenders Act.

The High Court, which had given two weeks time to the MLA to surrender, upheld the decision of a lower appellate court to award him a jail term of six months besides a fine of Rs 1,500 in the case.
The apex court, in July last year, had admitted the MLA's Special Leave Petition for hearing and exempted him from surrendering to undergo imprisonment.