NHT

Margao, Jul 8: The additional district and sessions judge, South Goa, Mr Pramod Kamat on Wednesday dismissed the bail application of former tourism minister, Francisco Xavier Pacheco alias Mickky, an accused in the Nadia death case.

Passing the order in the bail plea, the judge Mr Kamat allowed the application filed on July 3, 2010 by the police inspector CID, crime branch, Ms Sunita Sawant seeking custody of Pacheco for custodial interrogation. He also said the investigating officer is at the liberty to take the custody of the applicant upon his discharge certifying him to be fit to be in jail. At present, Pacheco is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of Hospicio Hospital, Margao.

The judge Mr Kamat ordered that the investigation officer has to comply with the provisions of section 167 of the CrPC upon taking custody of the applicant.

Dismissing the bail application of the former minister, the additional district and sessions judge in his 14-page order observed that based on the medical certificate produced on record issued by Dr Iona Barreto of the Hospicio Hospital, which otherwise does not bear the date and suffers from defects of overwriting and vagueness, the ailment cannot be considered as a serious ailment to grant bail to the applicant. The subsequent events projected by the advocate for the applicant in nature of sickness do not amount to change the circumstances. The present bail application filed by the applicant under section 439 is nothing but an attempt to have second innings and to camouflage and circumvent the order passed by the Supreme Court on July 1, 2010, which clearly observed that the offence is serious and requires custodial interrogation of the accused.

The order also said that upon perusal of the medical check-up report it is seen that the report bears no date. The said certificate indicates that the applicant is admitted in ICU and that his Bp is 170/100. However, on bare perusal of the said report it shows that there is an overwriting mentioning 170 as against 150, which was originally inserted. However, the said overwriting is not initiated by the doctor concerned. The said check-up report also indicates that concerned doctor advised the accused to further undergo medical investigations like X-rays and ECG. There is nothing on record to show the accused has undergone any tests, and that the patient is directly admitted in the ICU.

The judge Mr Kamat in his order said that besides the medical check-up report, the jailor did not produce on record medical certificate on overall examination of the accused.

The judge said that in the light of above observations authenticity of the certificate is in serious doubts. The said certificate is vague and issued in a very cursory, careless and in a perfunctory manner without considering seriousness of the case.

The judge Mr Kamat said the plea of the public prosecutor, which says that the accused may be referred to a medical board to be examined by the panel of experts, cannot be entertained at this stage. However, the public prosecutor is at liberty to file proper application for examination of the applicant by the panel of experts in accordance with law and before an appropriate forum.

He said that even assuming that the applicant is sick consequent upon complaining of pain in the left hypochondrium associated with nausea and giddiness in court’s opinion the abovementioned ailment does not at all warrant a valid ground

for the grant of bail to the applicant. He said that certificate on record does not indicate that ailment so caused to the applicant is not a serious one.

He also said that even assuming that the applicant is suffering from the abovementioned aliment as projected by Dr Barreto the proper treatment is available for treating the illness of the applicant.

The order concluded that the accused, despite the SC order, did not subject himself for the custodial interrogation and therefore present application seeking bail is totally premature and it is nothing but a camouflage and to subvert due process of law and order.

A large of Pacheco’s supporters were gathered outside the court and sought the Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat’s intervention in the case.

Our Panaji Reporter adds: The superintendent of police, special cell, Mr Atmaram Deshpande informed that the investigating agency probing the Nadia death case has demanded constitution of a medical board as it found some discrepancies in the medical report submitted by Pacheco before the lower court.

Stating the medical board could consist of at least three medical practitioners, the SP said that they have asked the dean of the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, to decide on constituting medical board at least by Thursday.

He added that as soon when the police would Pacheco into custody they would have to do a medical check-up on him.

Giving reasons for seeking a medical board, Mr Deshpande said if the former minister continues to be medically unfit then he would have to be under the supervision of a medical practitioner, thus the period of the custody would go waste. So unless and until he is declared medically fit by a medical board the police would not take him into custody.

The duration of his custody could depend on how the former tourism minister reacts and cooperates with the investigating agency, he said.