Judge: Parrikar, Rane Sr not entering witness box led to Mauvin acquittal

Panaji: The special court that acquitted industries minister Mauvin Godinho in the alleged Rs 4.5 crore power rebate scam said that the prosecution’s case was weakened considerably by former CMs Manohar Parrikar and Pratapsingh Rane, and then power secretary Vanchala Pachau not entering the witness box.“When the public prosecutor tried to secure the presence of complainant Parrikar, he was not keeping in good health and could not remain present for the trial. In his absence, the matter proceeded and unfortunately he expired,” said special judge Irshad Agha. It was Parrikar who, as an MLA in 1998, lodged a complaint against then power minister Godinho, in the Congress govt, then chief electrical engineer, and others, alleging the scam.Earlier this week, Godinho and the other accused were acquitted in the case, that spanned 27 years and went up to the Supreme Court. Godinho and others were charged with corruption and criminal conspiracy in the controversial case.The court said that the case was based solely on documentary evidence, as these material witnesses were not examined. “The material brought on record doesn’t point out that the accused persons entered into any conspiracy, and that then power minister Mauvin Godinho and then chief electrical engineer T Nagarajan misused their positions as public servants.

At most, the act of Godinho and the CEE can be considered as ‘irregularity not amounting to criminal misconduct’,” the court held.The FIR in the case was registered at crime branch, Panaji. As per the chargesheet, Godinho, the CEE, and others entered into a criminal conspiracy to cause wrongful gain to Mormugao Steel and Binani Zinc, and corresponding loss to govt of Goa.The court held that the prosecution “failed to prove that any criminal conspiracy was hatched" by Godinho, T Nagarajan, and other accused for the benefit of Mormugao Steel and the glass fibre division of Binani Zinc at the cost of govt exchequer.

The court further observed that the prosecution had to establish that the acts of Godinho and Nagarajan were dishonest to prove charges against them.“Neither in the brief facts made out in the chargesheet nor the material brought on record is there any material to show that any benefit went to Godinho or Nagarajan,” the court stated, adding that they “may have committed mistakes while dealing with the request for rebate, but they cannot be said to have done it deliberately with any criminal intent to benefit” the two companies.The court also stated that there are no allegations made in the chargesheet that Godinho and Nagarajan “obtained for themselves or for any other person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage”.