Panaji, Aug 19 (IANS): Granting anticipatory bail to former chief minister Digambar Kamat, a local court on Wednesday asserted that neither was the Louis Berger case politically motivated nor the Congress leader a victim of political vendetta.

Had the case been politically motivated, Kamat would have been arrested the day he was first interrogated, the court observed.

Judge B.P. Deshpande, in his order, also ruled out political interference in the case, even as he said that the prosecution could not prove that the Congress leader had a "criminal background".

In his order granting anticipatory bail to Kamat, who along with a former minister and other officials, has been accused of accepting bribes from global consultancy firm Louis Berger, Deshpande said the social respect a politician commands cannot be automatically equated with the influence that can be potentially used to pressure witnesses without substantiation by the prosecution.

In his observation on the charge by Kamat's counsel that he was being made a victim of political vendetta, Deshpande said: "If there was any political interest in the matter, the applicant could have been placed under arrest on the first day he was called for interrogation by the investigating officer. That such step was not taken clearly suggests that there is no political vendetta against the applicant in the present matter."

Kamat, who was granted anticipatory bail on Wednesday, was directed to furnish a bond of Rs.1 lakh, a surety of a like amount along with a direction to not influence witnesses and tamper with the evidence related to the bribery case.

Deshpande's order also said that the police had failed to produce any material to even prima facie justify their earlier submission that Kamat's arrest was essential because he was a "habitual offender" and that he had a criminal background.

The prosecution had claimed that Kamat was involved in the multi-crore-rupee mining scam.