PANAJI
Notorious criminal Vijay Karbotkar, who appears to the Court handcuffed to stand trial for attempted murder, has been denied bail as the Mapusa Court feared he could tamper with the course of justice.
Accused of attempting to murder Aldona Sarpanch Pranesh Naik in 2022, Karbotkar is already serving a life sentence for killing one Lavu Parsekar in Porvorim in 2013.
While he sought bail in the present case, others implicated in the crime were discharged due to insufficient evidence against them.
The Court also made an intriguing remark, “The devil may know what motivated a person to commit the crime” while it noted that even without a clear motive, the gravity of the offense cannot be overlooked in considering bail.
“…just because the other accused were discharged in the absence of prima facie material to frame charges against them, the accused No. 1 (Karbotkar) cannot make capital of this face. At the end of the day, he was clearly identified and named in the FIR when his mask was pulled down during the attack. It is said that the devil may know what motivated a person to commit a crime. Hence, mere absence of motive also cannot be a ground to consider the bail application favourably, where there is prima facie direct material implicating him in the commission of a heinous crime along with 7-8 unknown persons,” Additional Sessions Judge-2 Bosco Roberts observed.
The Court also recalled that the accused was absconding for a long time after committing the offenses.
Judge Roberts further stated that though there are no complaints of intimidation of witnesses against Karbotkar, it cannot be the reason for his bail. “There is nothing to suggest that once he secures bail, he will not pollute the pools of justice, directly or indirectly by misusing his freedom. I find that having been already convicted and sentenced in one case would be a motivating factor for the accused to embark upon such a misadventure to ensure that he does not strike out twice,” reads the order.
