Stating that he cannot be silenced by a legal notice, Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijai Sardesai said that Section 16B was a scam which has been admitted by the present TCP Minister who has scrapped it.
In a democracy, the CM should know that whenever there is a scandal or a perception of a scandal then the responsibility finally rests at the door of the person who leads the government, he added.
He further said that 32 cases were approved under the Section 16B when he was the TCP minister and eventually 7,700 cases were provisionally approved.
“There is a clear-cut case of wholesale changes being done in the Regional Plan. This has been done for some consideration which everyone has said on the floor of the House. If you repeat what was said in the House, outside it and you are threatened with litigation, and if you expect the opposition to be quiet, then I am not the one who will remain quiet,” Sardesai said.
The GFP chief was reacting to CM’s claim of serving defamation case against him on the allegations of the TCP scam.
Continuing, Sardesai said there was corruption in the section 16B of the TCP Act which has been said by him and several other people.
He said Digambar Kamat, who has since changed sides, was leading the campaign of Congress party during the assembly election where he promised the people that if elected, they would do away with the 16 B.
“My charge is this is a scam. 16B is a scam. It is admitted by even the present TCP minister who has promised to do away with it. If it is not a scam, then why is he doing away with it? There is no smoke without fire,” he said.
“The point is that it was not done in his (present TCP minister) tenure. So, I cannot attack him. So, whom do I attack? A person who is not in the cabinet or the person who has been the CM both the times?” he added.
Sardesai said if somebody was involved in a scandal in the cabinet headed by the CM, then the CM cannot say the file did not come to him.
The GFP chief also said that he would wait for the legal notice and would reply to it as and when it comes.
