PANAJI
Sudin Sangodkar, Special Magistrate, Mapusa on Wednesday sought to clear the air of mystery surrounding his connection with the court peon Tilu Aroskar, who was arrested earlier in the month by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the department of vigilance after he was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 200.
ACB laid a trap to arrest Aroskar based on the complaint from a person who alleged that the court peon demanded a bribe of Rs 4,500 for the release of his bike and lated reduced it to Rs 2,500.
In a rare address to the press, SJM Sangodkar clarified that though the ACB has been cordial with him during the ongoing investigation, the ACB team may have overstepped its boundaries.
“ACB has not interrogated me about this alleged incident at all. I have now received a notice from ACB asking me to submit the receipt books on January 29. Receipt books are court property and cannot be submitted without the HC’s permission. Has the HC directed them to investigate me? Till date, my powers have not been suspended? My name and prestige as a judicial officer is being spoilt unnecessarily,” SJM Sangodkar explained.
He also demanded to know whether the ACB has discovered anything incriminating in his house search and said, “There barely own much. What have they found in my house search?”
In addition to this, it was pointed out that the ACB had not given any prior intimation to the district judge or the chief judicial magistrate before the raid.
Sangodkar also disclosed that the accused Aroskar was a peon in his office in September 2017. “About two months ago, immediately after my deputation in Goa, I had informed the administrative judge to remove him as my peon because of his manner of talking. He used to come with court correspondence and accused to my house. No one is investigating why he came to my house that day. I have written a letter to principal district judge, registrar general of Bombay High Court and administrative judges and CJM asking for an enquiry into who gave him the file and why he came to my home,” he said.
