Panaji, May 13 (TOI): Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar may have gone all guns blazing against the UPA government for its alleged role in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper bribery scandal , but the Bombay high court at Goa's scathing remarks in the Serula comunidade case is giving Parrikar the blushes. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is now turning the screws on Parrikar, under whose watch as the chief minister of Goa, tourism minister Dilip Parulekar usurped the land and illegally constructed structures. The party has demanded the removal of Parulekar from the government.
"Parrikar is responsible for it (Parulekar's actions). This is not me, the court has observed that the government was responsible," said NCP's senior vice president Trajano D'Mello.
NCP, led by state president Jose Philip D'souza, called on governor Mridula Sinha and urged her to convince the government to drop the tourism minister from the government. "The government should drop Parulekar from the cabinet in the wake of observations and strictures against him in the issue of usurpation of Serula comunidade land," D'souza said in a memorandum submitted to the governor on Wednesday. He pointed out that D'mello had raised the issue of illegal usurpation of Serula comunidade land by Parulekar and his brother, Pramod Parulekar at various platforms, but to no avail. "This man is the fountainhead of corruption. Since he has remained silent on the issue, he has to answer why," D'mello said.
The memorandum expressed confidence that Sinha, as a guardian of the constitution, would not send a wrong signal that the violator of the constitution can continue though being involved in nefarious activities, even after the court verdict. Bombay high court at Goa has clearly indicted Parulekar for misusing his position for illegally grabbing the Serula comunidade land. "The conduct of Dilip Parulekar and other respondents is an illegal expedient to usurp of land of the comunidade without sanction of law," the court said in its order.
"The state authorities have failed in their statutory duties to ensure that the law is above all else as it is for them to ensure that the provisions of law are duly followed in all circumstances," the order states further.