Mickky Pacheco's Bail Plea Rejected

Former tourism minister Mickky Pacheco’s bail plea has been dismissed by the South Goa Sessions Court on Wednesday 6th July 2010, The court observed that the bail application is nothing but a camouflage to subvert the due process of law and the orders passed by the High Court and Apex Court consistently holding that custodial interrogation of the accused is a must.

The court has further allowed the application filed by Crime Branch PI Sunita Sawant for Pacheco’s custodial interrogation and said the investigating officer of the Crime Branch is at liberty to take Pacheco into custody upon his discharge from the hospital and being certified that he is fit to be in jail. On the Crime Branch application for referring the former minister to a medical board for examination by a panel of doctors, Judge Kamat told the investigating officer to move the application before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Margao.

While denying bail, Judge Kamat said the bail application filed by Pacheco is nothing but an attempt to have a second inning and to camouflage and circumvent the orders passed by the Apex Court. In fact, he observed that Pacheco’s application seeking bail is nothing but an abuse of the process of law.

Judge Kamat said that Pacheco’s sickness cannot be considered as a serious ailment to grant him the bail, more so when the medical certificates produced by Dr Iona Barreto of Hospicio Hospital, Margao does not bear the date and suffers from the defects of overwriting and vagueness in the report.

The Judge said there are no clinical bases based on the case history and certificate issued by Dr Iona Barreto to arrive at a conclusion that Pacheco’s ailment is serious. “The certificate on record does not indicate that the ailment so caused to Pacheco is serious ailment. Even assuming that Pacheco is sick consequent upon complaining of pain in the left hypochondrium associated with nausea and giddiness, “In my considered opinion, the ailment does not at all warrant a valid ground which can be made basis for the grant of bail/liberty to the applicant”, the judge added, “Under the guise of surrender provisions and provisions under Section 439 of the Cr PC, Pacheco is intending to have a second inning seeking regular bail, raising the grounds before the courts earlier. There are absolutely no intervening or compelling events that have cropped up subsequent to the passing of the order by the Apex Court so as to alter the situation of the investigations”, Judge Kamat said. “In my considered opinion, the expression regular bail application means preferring bail application only upon arrest by the police for the purpose of custodial interrogation. The accused did not subject himself to custodial interrogation, therefore, Pacheco’s bail application seeking bail is totally premature”, Judge Kamat added.

The judge said the orders of the Additional Sessions Judge, South dated June 1, High Court dated June 21 and the Supreme Court dated January 7 clearly observed that the offence is serious and requires custodial interrogation of the accused.