MARGAO
Accused Francis Pereira will finally walk free from the Colvale jail with a Margao Court granting him bail on Monday, nearly six months after he was arrested by the Curchorem police in mid-July last year.
His release from jail, however, will depend on how fast he can furnish the surety as the court had ordered his release on bail of Rs 10,000 with one identical surety.
His lawyer under the free legal aid scheme, Adv Eric Coutinho, told The Goan though the court has granted the bail application moved by Francis. “His release will depend on the surety he furnishes before the court. I am in touch with his relatives. Hopefully, Francis may walk free from jail in a day or two,” he said.
While granting bail, Judge Narayan Amonkar has directed Francis not to interfere with the complainant or the witnesses connected to the Chandor Tariyalo Khuris desecration case.
In his bail application, the accused had drawn attention of the court to the fact that he was arrested by the Maina-Curtorim police on August 21, 2017 and that the trial in the case has already commenced.
If released on bail, the accused was willing to give an undertaking not to leave the country without the previous permission of the court and to remain present for hearings.
What prompted Francis and his lawyer to move the court for bail was apparently the order passed by the JMFC Narayan Amonkar last week rejecting his plea for discharge and directing him to stand for trial in the Tariyalo Khuris desecration case.
Though arrested in mid-July in the Curchorem cemetery desecration case, Francis had never moved the court for bail in all the 12 desecration cases that were foisted on him by the police stations of Cuncolim, Margao and Maina-Curtorim. Incidentally, barring the Tariyalo Khuris desecration case, Francis has been discharged from all the remaining 11 cases in Salcete.
His lawyer Adv Eric Coutinho told The Goan that his client did not apply for bail in any of the 12 desecration cases reported in Salcete as arranging sureties for him would have been a difficult task.
“Francis is already on bail in some of the cases
registered against him in other talukas, but the decision of the Goa police to rope him in all the 12 desecration cases reported in Salcete over the years literally came in his
way to arrange for the sureties,” he said.
