Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay at Goa will on July 8 hear final arguments in the Anti-Corruption Branch’s plea challenging a lower court order that directed police to register an FIR against former minister Pandurang Madkaikar over alleged bribery claims.
During the last hearing, Justice Valmiki Menezes asked all parties, including the respondents, to submit a compilation of relevant judgments and brief summaries of their arguments by July 3.
The ACB has approached the High Court seeking to quash the Principal District and Sessions Court’s June 9 order, which directed the registration of an FIR based on Madkaikar’s public remarks. In those remarks, Madkaikar allegedly claimed he had paid ₹15–20 lakh to get official files cleared.
Citizen activists had moved the trial court after the ACB closed its initial inquiry, citing Madkaikar’s later retraction in which he said he was referring to a penalty payment rather than a bribe. Despite this, Sessions Judge Irshad Agha ruled that the video recording of Madkaikar’s original comments provided enough prima facie evidence to justify registering an FIR under anti-corruption laws.
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