Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The North Goa Sessions Court has directed the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) to register a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with bribery allegations made earlier this year by former minister Pandurang Madkaikar.
The order comes after a group of citizen activists challenged the ACB’s decision to close its preliminary inquiry, which was based on Madkaikar’s subsequent clarification that his statement referred to a penalty payment, not a bribe.
The court, in its ruling, noted that the activists’ concerns were valid, particularly in light of the serious nature of the original public allegation and the potential for public confusion following its retraction.
“The applicants here are more concerned because making such statements and thereafter falling back on the said statements is not in the interest of the public as there is every possibility that the public at large may be misguided,” the court observed.
The judge further emphasised that whether the statements were true or misconstrued should have been determined after the registration of an FIR, not dismissed at the preliminary stage.
The ACB is now expected to formally investigate the matter, which had drawn widespread public attention when Madkaikar initially made the claim earlier this year.
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