The Goa Cabinet led by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has approved a proposal to grant pardon to jailed former Minister and MLA Mickky Pacheco.
Sources confirmed on Thursday said that the file has been sent to Governor Mridula Sinha. >An earlier petition to her from Pacheco's family had been sent back to the government by the Governor.
Mr. Pacheco's plea for parol to attend the on-going State Assembly session is still pending with the government.
Activist lawyer Aires Rodrigues on Thursday once again urged Goa Governor Mridula Sinha not to agree to the move by the government to grant pardon to Goa’s convicted Pacheco under Article 161 of the Constitution of India.
In a letter addressed to the Governor on Thursday, Adv. Rodrigues has drawn her attention to the revived attempt by the Goa government to accord pardon to the jailed MLA.
Calling it an abuse of power, he alleged in his letter to the Governor that Pacheco being a political heavy weight, the government was clearly conniving and colluding with him to derail the due process of law and making a mockery of the judicial system by now trying to give Pacheco the benefit of pardon under Article 161 of the Constitution.
The letter further draws the Governor’s attention that Pacheco has been convicted for a serious offence – assaulting a public servant while on duty -- and that it could not be lost sight that the High Court specifically overruled the Sessions Court relief of granting Pacheco the benefit of Probation of Offenders Act.
The state units of the Aam Aadmi Party also has been consistently opposing the government move to pardon Pacheco who is presently serving his six-month jail term for having been convicted in a case in 2006 wherein he assaulted a junior engineer of State Electricity department on duty.
