Goemkarponn Desk
MAPUSA: The Special Session Court at Mapusa today framed charges in the Louis Berger bribery case.
Both the accused, former chief minister Digambar Kamat and the then PWD Minister Churchill Alemao pleaded not guilty and will now face trial.
“I was asked to respond to the charge. I have pleaded not guilty. I have said I am innocent,” said Kamat while coming out of the court.
It was alleged that US-based firm Louis Berger had bribed Indian officials with several crores of rupees to win two major water developmental projects in Goa. The Rs 1,031-crore project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was approved when the Kamat-led government was in power, for augmenting water supply in south Goa and laying sewerage lines in the state’s major cities.
It was alleged that the state ministers received bribes to the tune of $976,000 to grant contracts for the JICA-funded project in Goa. Kamat was alleged to have received a bribe of Rs 1.2 crore while Alemao was alleged to have received Rs 75 lakh.
