Ex CMC official seeks discharge in Ruby Residency case

the goan I network
MARGAO

Shirodkar's lawyer, Adv Radharao Gracias submitted to the South Goa Sessions Court on Wednesday that his client was only an administrative head of a civic body and not a technical person to verify the technical aspects of a building.
While not disputing the fact that his client had signed the Occupancy Certificate in his capacity as the Chief officer of the civic body, Adr Radharao draw attention of Judge B P Deshpande to the laid down procedure before the Chief Officer issues the Occupancy certificate.
"The Builder's engineer is supposed to issue the completion certificate before applying for Occupancy Certificate stating that the building in question is complete. The file then goes to the Town and Country Planning Department for inspection and verification before it comes to the civic body for the Occupancy Certificate. Before the Chief Officer puts his signature on the Occupancy Certificate, the file is processed by the municipal technical section headed by a municipal engineer to look after the technical aspects of a building," Adv Radharao argued.
Moreover, he pointed out that the investigating agency has nowhere in the 3000 page charge sheet stated that the Chief Officer has accepted a bribe to sign on the Occupancy Certificate. "Where's the question of charging my client under the Prevention of Corruption Act when my name does not figure anywhere for accepting a bribe to issue the occupancy certificate," Adv Radharao questioned, while making a case before the court for the discharge of his client.