PANAJI
The Additional Sessions Court in Mapusa has rejected a plea by former Chief Minister and sitting MLA Digambar Kamat seeking to make three prosecution witnesses accused in the Louis Berger bribery case. The court ruled that statements recorded during the investigation cannot, on their own, be treated as evidence for invoking Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Kamat had moved an application asking the court to arraign Shiv Ramprasad Malladi, Sanjay Jindal and Prasanna Shah as accused. He argued that their own recorded statements showed that they had actively collected, received and delivered alleged bribes in connection with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funded water and sewerage project in Goa.
According to Kamat, these statements were confessional in nature and clearly pointed to their involvement and complicity in the alleged offence of giving bribes. He claimed that this made them co-conspirators who should face trial as accused instead of being treated as witnesses.
Opposing the plea, the prosecution told the court that the three witnesses were not decision-makers within the Louis Berger organisation. The State argued that they acted under pressure and coercion from their superiors and did not gain anything personally from the alleged transactions. The prosecution said the witnesses merely carried out instructions, similar to couriers, because they feared losing their jobs or business partnerships if they refused.
Kamat’s counsel countered this by stating that the court could rely on the material already on record. He alleged that the investigating officer had selectively chosen to prosecute Kamat, listed as accused number 8, and others, while sparing the three witnesses despite sufficient material against them.
After hearing both sides, the court dismissed the application. Additional Sessions Judge Dvijple Patkar observed that even statements recorded before a Magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC are not substantive evidence by themselves. The court said that a person, including a witness, can be arraigned as an accused under Section 319 only on the basis of evidence recorded by the court during inquiry or trial. Statements under Sections 161 or 164 can, at best, be used later for corroboration, but cannot independently justify summoning a person as an accused.
The court also noted that charges in the case are yet to be framed and that a discharge application filed in the matter is still pending.
