the goan I network
MARGAO
City-based lawyer, Adv Rajiv Gomes on Friday filed a fresh petition in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao, with a plea to direct the police to register a first information report in the formalin case and commence
investigations.
Adv Gomes, who has made FDA South Goa officer, Iva Fernandes as a respondent in the case, has prayed to the court to call for the file as well as the investigation report dated July 16, 2018 along with all the annexures to enable the court to ascertain the commission of the offences pending the disposal of the petition.
The petition has prayed to the court to unearth by whom, when and where the criminal conspiracy was hatched to preserve the fish in formalin and also identify all the persons involved in the criminal conspiracy. He has also called for the interrogation of the Wholesale Fish Association President, Ibrahim Maulana to unearth this conspiracy and prayed to the court to arrest and interrogate the whole sale fish agents/operators of the said 17 trucks who imported the formalin added fish into Goa, and all others who abetted and aided the commission of the offence and to identify the source of the chemicals and formalin used in the preservation.
In his petition, Adv Gomes stated that the matter affects the general health of the public, including children, as well as the livelihood of the Goan fishing community, adding that swift and effective action against the mafia is of utmost importance in order to restore confidence in the people that the fish sold in future will be formalin free.
While claiming that the tests conducted by the FDA had tested positive, Adv Gomes pointed out that instead of registering a case under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, against the wholesale fish agents/operators and prohibiting the sale of the said formalin infused fish and in fact confiscating the same, the FDA Director Jyoti Sardesai caused this formalin laced fish to be released for sale to the general public on a claim that it was safe for human consumption, ostensibly under political pressure.
