Team Goemkarponn
Mapusa: The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court at Mapusa has discharged former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Prakash Velip and four others in a nearly two-decade-old criminal case linked to alleged financial irregularities at the Goa State Co-operative Bank.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed in December 2006 by the General Manager (Vigilance) of the bank, alleging that during the period between 2001 and 2006, Velip—who was serving as Chairman of the bank at the time—along with other officials, had entered into a criminal conspiracy to defraud the institution.
According to the prosecution, the accused had allegedly approved and made excess payments without the requisite sanctions during the construction of the bank’s Head Office building at Panaji. It was claimed that these irregularities resulted in a loss of approximately ₹7.75 crore to the bank.
However, after examining the material placed on record, the JMFC Court held that the charges were “groundless” and discharged Prakash Velip, Ladu R. Gaonkar and the other accused from all offences. The case involved charges under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120(B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
In its order, the court noted a major lapse on the part of the prosecution, observing that it had failed to produce the original “sanctioned estimate” for the construction project. In the absence of this crucial document, the court said, it was not possible to establish that any excess payments were made.
“In the absence of the ‘estimate’, the allegation that an amount in excess of the estimate was approved or paid cannot be established,” the court observed.
With these findings, the JMFC Court brought to a close the long-pending case, discharging all the accused from the alleged offences.
