Panaji: District and Sessions Court, North Goa, has issued notices to the superintendent of police (SP) and police inspector (PI) of the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Directorate of Vigilance in connection with the complaint pertaining to the bribery allegations made by former minister Pandurang Madkaikar.
The matter is likely to come up for hearing on April 19.
John Francis Nazareth, one of the seven complainants, said the complaint was filed before the ACB on March 6. As there was no response from the ACB, the complainants approached the court requesting it to issue directions to the ACB to register a First Information Report (FIR).
The complainants, Kashinath J Shetye, Inacio Pereira, Ramchandra V Mandrekar, John Francis Nazareth, Premendra Vernekar, Mariano Ferrao and Krishna Pandit, had said that a serious allegation of corruption and bribery involving a staggering amount of Rs 15-20 lakh was publicly made by Madkaikar.
“Given the gravity of the allegation, we request your esteemed office (ACB) to initiate an immediate and thorough investigation into the matter,” the complainants had said. They had sought verification of the allegation.
“Conduct an inquiry into Madkaikar’s statement and determine the authenticity of his claim that he had to pay a bribe of Rs 15-20 lakh to get his file cleared,” the complainants had said.
The complainants had also sought action against Madkaikar if his statement was proved to be false. “If the investigation proves that Madkaikar made a false statement, he should be held accountable for misleading the public and defaming the institution,” the complainants had said.
