the goan I network
MARGAO
Margao-based lawyer Adv Rajiv Gomes on Thursday turned up at the court room with bottles of formalin and books to prove that formalin is poisonous, but arguments in the formalin case were once against adjourned for the want of Special Public Prosecutor GD Kirtani.
As the formalin matter was called up for hearing before Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao on Thursday, Adv Gomes brought out bottles of formalin and books in support of his claim that formalin is poisonous and claims the life of people. Adv Gomes apparently had come with the formalin bottles and books to prove a point or two before the court that formalin is indeed poisonous.
Arguments in the matter, however, could not take place since Special Public Prosecutor GD Kirtani did not turn up in the court on health grounds. Adv Gomes was believed to have objected to the absence of the Special Public Prosecutor on two occasions, while seeking early hearing of the matter. The matter will now come up for hearing on August 31.
It’s exactly a year now since the formalin row had hit the state when formalin tests conducted on fish imported from outside the State by FDA office Iva Fernandes had tested positive, creating a furore across the State.
In this respect, Adv Rajiv Gomes had knocked the doors of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao to direct the Fatorda police to register a FIR against the wholesalers and the truck owners who had brought the imported fish at the Margao wholesale fish market after the police had refused to register a complaint against the wholesalers.
While Adv Rajiv Gomes had initially cited FDA officer Iva Fernandes as a respondent in the matter, the officer was later dropped after she failed to turn up for the court hearings. “It’s sad that though it’s now a year since the formalin row had erupted at the wholesale fish market, the police are yet to register a FIR and take the investigations to its logical conclusion,” Adv Gomes lamented, even as he vowed to fight till the culprits are booked.
