PANAJI: A special court on Monday granted interim anticipatory bail to former chief minister Digambar Kamat in the alleged illegal mining case pertaining to mine owner Prafulla Hede.
Special court judge Irshad Agha, in his order, said the interim relief is granted and in the event the applicant is arrested, he shall be released on furnishing bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the same amount.
Kamat filed the anticipatory bail application before the special court on Saturday and sought interim bail. The matter was kept for hearing on Monday.
During the hearing, Kamat's counsel Shivan Desai said the special investigation team (SIT) attempted to arrest Kamat when the anticipatory bail was filed. "What kind of investigation is this?" he said.
Special public prosecutor Prasad Kirtani, appearing for SIT, sought time to file a reply in the matter. Reacting to the accused's counsel's statement that the SIT attempted to arrest Kamat, Kirtani said, "It is nothing like that." He said the SIT had issued a call letter to Kamat for investigation.
Kamat, in his anticipatory bail application, said he has been a Congress member since 2005 and was last elected on a Congress ticket to the Goa assembly in the elections held in 2017. In 2012, BJP came to power in Goa and started criminally involving him because he happens to be an opposition leader and it was aimed at silencing him.
Referring to an anticipatory bail he secured in the Louis Berger bribery case, Kamat stated the government has again falsely implicated him to cause embarrassment by arresting him.
The SIT on Saturday night conducted searches at three different places in Margao and Panaji to arrest him.
On September 19, 2014, a first information report (FIR) against Hede and others was registered following a complaint filed by mines director Prasanna Acharya before the SIT.
In his complaint, Acharya stated that between 1988 and 2007, mining operations were carried out in TC (title of concession) No. 30/1950 through the illegal condonation of delay given by a public servant/government official at that period, which was in violation of Section 19 of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
Acharya stated that the mine was operated illegally in violation of Section 4(1) (1-A) of the Act and had caused losses to the exchequer and illegal gains to the mine operators. SIT suspects Kamat's involvement in the case.
Special court judge Irshad Agha, in his order, said the interim relief is granted and in the event the applicant is arrested, he shall be released on furnishing bail bond of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of the same amount.
Kamat filed the anticipatory bail application before the special court on Saturday and sought interim bail. The matter was kept for hearing on Monday.
During the hearing, Kamat's counsel Shivan Desai said the special investigation team (SIT) attempted to arrest Kamat when the anticipatory bail was filed. "What kind of investigation is this?" he said.
Special public prosecutor Prasad Kirtani, appearing for SIT, sought time to file a reply in the matter. Reacting to the accused's counsel's statement that the SIT attempted to arrest Kamat, Kirtani said, "It is nothing like that." He said the SIT had issued a call letter to Kamat for investigation.
Kamat, in his anticipatory bail application, said he has been a Congress member since 2005 and was last elected on a Congress ticket to the Goa assembly in the elections held in 2017. In 2012, BJP came to power in Goa and started criminally involving him because he happens to be an opposition leader and it was aimed at silencing him.
Referring to an anticipatory bail he secured in the Louis Berger bribery case, Kamat stated the government has again falsely implicated him to cause embarrassment by arresting him.
The SIT on Saturday night conducted searches at three different places in Margao and Panaji to arrest him.
On September 19, 2014, a first information report (FIR) against Hede and others was registered following a complaint filed by mines director Prasanna Acharya before the SIT.
In his complaint, Acharya stated that between 1988 and 2007, mining operations were carried out in TC (title of concession) No. 30/1950 through the illegal condonation of delay given by a public servant/government official at that period, which was in violation of Section 19 of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
Acharya stated that the mine was operated illegally in violation of Section 4(1) (1-A) of the Act and had caused losses to the exchequer and illegal gains to the mine operators. SIT suspects Kamat's involvement in the case.
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