NT NETWORK
MARGAO
Margao special judge B P Deshpande on Thursday granted interim anticipatory bail till Monday, February 12, to leader of opposition and Quepem MLA Chandrakant ‘Babu’ Kavlekar in the disproportionate assets (DA) case.
The court issued orders observing that as the applicant apprehending arrest is the leader of opposition in the Goa legislative assembly, it is necessary to protect the applicant until a decision on the application by way of prayer.
The court has ordered to issue notices to the respondent (Anti Corruption Branch) to show cause as to why the interim relief granted to Kavlekar should not be confirmed. The matter is posted for February 12.
In his application made before the court, Kavlekar prayed for anticipatory bail fearing arrest and said that he is being implicated in the case. Advocate Surendra Dessai appeared on behalf of Kavlekar.
The Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Directorate of Vigilance has registered a
disproportionate assets case against Kavlekar. The ACB had conducted raids in the past at his house in Betul, office in Quepem and the main office of his firms in Margao.
During the check period between January 1, 2007 and April 30, 2013, Kavlekar acquired huge assets. Between this check period, Kavlekar was the chairman of Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), according to the ACB.
As per ACB, during preliminary inquiry, Kavlekar was summoned and questioned and he was not able to provide a satisfactory reply to the police following which the police registered the case. Police said that Kavlekar has five firms and his wife is a director in the firms; as such, she also becomes a co-accused in the case.
According to ACB, Kavlekar has not disclosed the details of 14 different properties purchased by him in Kerala in his asset and liability statement submitted before the institution of Goa Lokayukta during the period from 2013 to 2015.