the goan I network
MARGAO
Margao-based activist Sanjeev Raiturkar received a shocker as he has been summoned to the Canacona Magistrate’s Court on Monday to answer charges leveled against him under section 353 of the IPC “ obstructing a government servant while discharging duties.
Raiturkar expressed surprise to know he had in any way obstructed any government servant from discharging their duties at Polem when he had headed to the check post with the media to ascertain the level of checks maintained by the FDA on the fish imported in the state from across the border.
That’s not all. The activist is completely taken aback by the summons he has received from the court when he had no idea that an FIR was lodged against him by any of the authorities last year. He further stated that he was also not called for recording of his statement by the Canacona police in any case registered against him nor was he intimated of the offence.
Last year, Raiturkar along with crew members of the electronic media had descended at Polem checkpost, to ascertain the level of FDA checking at the border, only to find laxity in the system.
“We never barged inside the office nor obstructed their work. In fact, we identified ourselves before we tried to check the system in place,” he added.
Raiturkar’s Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the formalin row as well as unhygienic Margao wholesale fish market is presently pending in the HC.
“I had filed the PIL only after collecting details at Polem on the system in place to check for formalin and the conditions in the wholesale fish market,” he said.
