MARGAO
Ahead of the 2022 Assembly election, former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao got a breather as the South Goa Sessions Court on Saturday discharged him and former PWD executive engineer Pundalik Parkar in a corruption case.
The Crime Branch had filed a chargesheet against Parkar, (accused No 1) in the capacity of executive engineer, Works Div XXV (Roads) and Churchill (accused No 2), the then PWD minister.
They were charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy prior to May 20, 2011, of floating 13 short tender notices pertaining to several works without following procedures.
89 of the works were above 5 lakhs which were allegedly not published in the newspapers due to which there was no competition between prospective tenderers. The chargesheet stated they cheated the government by misappropriating funds to the tune of Rs300 crore.
Churchill, who was present in the courtroom when the order was pronounced, told the media that justice has been done to him. He said he was falsely implicated in the case without any reason. A minister has no role to play in the tendering or execution of road works, he added.
While discharging the duo of the offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and under the IPC, Additional Sessions Judge Vincent D’Silva said neither there were sufficient grounds for proceeding against the accused nor there are suspicious circumstances against to frame a charge against them.
