Activist lawyer Aires Rodrigues on Friday rubbished Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s claim that he had no hand in divesting CBI Court Judge PV Sawaikar of his powers to hear corruption cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Mr. Rodrigues had on Thursday served a legal notice on the Chief Secretary of Goa against the notification issued by the government divesting the Goa CBI Court of its powers to hear corruption related cases.
Demanding that the notification be revoked within 48 hours, the activist lawyer has in his notice stated that if the powers that were vested with the CBI Court were not restored, he would be constrained to move appropriate proceedings including contempt of court against the Goa Government before the Supreme Court.
Challenging the Chief Minister to place in the public domain the entire correspondence leading to the issuance of the notification, dated October 7, divesting Judge Sawaikar of his powers, Mr. Rodrigues has accused Mr. Parrikar of adopting high-handed tactics in attempting to intimidate judges into submission.
Mr. Parrikar on Thursday had told presspersons on the sidelines of a public function here that the judge had indeed exceeded his jurisdiction, but went on to argue that he(Chief Minister) can call for scrapping the CBI court but has no power to seek transfer of CBI judges. He said that the order had actually come from the judiciary, and the State Law Department issuing the notification was a mere technicality.
Unimpressed by the Chief Minister’s contention, Mr. Rodrigues recalled that in the latest session of the Goa Legislative Assembly the Chief Minister had taken pot shots at the judge while coming down on some of the lower court judges for exceeding their jurisdiction.
Mr. Rodrigues has stated that if the government is aggrieved by an order of a judge, it should exercise its right to legally challenge it rather than resorting to such appalling interference in the functioning of the judiciary.
Questioning the motive of not appointing another Judge to the Goa CBI Court, if the Government wanted Judge Sawaikar out, the activist has alleged that by transferring the corruption cases to an already overburdened Principal North Goa District Judge, all the cases will now move at a snail’s pace to the benefit of the corrupt.
Alleging that this move of the government was contrary to the directive of the Supreme Court to set up the Special CBI Court to fast track corruption cases, Mr. Rodrigues has stated that he would bring all these facts to the notice of the Supreme Court while seeking the independent functioning of the judiciary in a manner free from political misadventures.
