The Goa Government was billed Rupees five lakhs by a Senior Advocate from Mumbai Mr. Amit Desai for four hearings in the High Court he never attended. This has been revealed in the information furnished by the Goa Police under the Right to Information Act.
Senior Advocate Amit Desai billed the Goa Government Rs 3,75,000 for appearing before the Bombay High Court at Goa on 26th, 27th and 28th November 2008 but the Court records do not show his appearance. He also billed the Government for another Rs 1, 25,000 for an appearance on 13th Jan 2009 while the records show that there was no hearing of the case on that day. Interestingly the Goa Government paid Adv. Amit Desai the amount without requiring him to produce an appearance certificate issued by the High Court as is mandatory before any government advocate is paid. Documents also obtained under the RTI Act from the Home Department reveals that Advocate General of Goa Subodh Kantak had by a note on 7th October 2008 proposed that Adv. Amit Desai be engaged at a fee of Rs 1, 25, 000 per hearing to appear for the State before the High Court in the confirmation of death sentence case of Mr. Ryan Fernandes the main accused in the 2005 Vasco based Dr. Shrikant Verenkar murder case. Adv. Amit Desai was also allowed executive class airfare from Mumbai and stay at a five star hotel in Panaji. The Goa government also appointed a Panaji lawyer Mr. Ashwin Bhobe to assist Adv. Amit Desai with an appearance charge of Rs 5000 per hearing. Interestingly the file notings show that on 11th July 2007 Advocate General Subodh Kantak himself had agreed that Public Prosecutor Mrs. T. S. Sardinha should represent the State in the case. The file notings also show that then High Court Public Prosecutor Mrs. Winnie Coutinho had also declined to appear in the matter as the accused Mr. Ryan Fernandes was known to her. The information furnished further reveals that the Goa Government has spent a whopping Rs 11, 29, 266 on Adv. Amit Desai. Of the total expenditure incurred Rs 10 lakhs was towards Adv. Amit Desai’s court appearance charges while Rs 74,636 towards his hotel accommodation and Rs 54, 630 towards airfare expenses. The expenditure of Rs 11, 29, 266 incurred is from October 2008 to February 2009 as the subsequent bills to date from Adv. Amit Desai are still being processed. The documents furnished by the Goa Police also show that Adv. Amit Desai held a two and half hour conference at Mumbai on 22nd November 2008 which was attended by Public Prosecutor Mrs. T.S. Sardinha, Adv. Ashwin Bhobe and Deputy Superintendent of Police Mr. Mahesh Gaonkar who was the Investigating Officer of the case. Adv. Amit Desai then sent the Goa Government a bill of Rs 62,500 for that Mumbai Conference at the rate of Rs 25,000 per hour. The government however declined to pay that bill stating that he was not entitled to bill for the conference held. It is however not known as to why Advocate General Mr. Subodh Kantak had not himself appeared for the State in the confirmation case. It is also not known as to why the State Government agreed to engage a lawyer from Mumbai incurring such heavy expenditure though there are so many lawyers practicing criminal law in Goa. The records also do not show that the Government had made any efforts to engage the services of any lawyer locally. A perusal of the orders recording the proceedings of the case show that Adv. Amit Desai had on least three occasions traveled all the way from Mumbai only to seek an adjournment of the case while burdening the State exchequer by another Rs 1,25,000 plus travel and accommodation for each of his trips. Records of the case also reveal that since the confirmation case was filed in 2007 there have been already 28 hearings with the 29th one scheduled on 10th October 2011. Ironically the records reveal that Adv. Amit Desai on 25th July this year submitted before the High Court that the Government was not pressing for the confirmation of the death sentence. It is wondered as to why Adv. Ashwin Bhobe the local advocate could not have informed this to the court instead of having Adv. Amit Desai to come from Mumbai only to make this submission. Interestingly the Law department and the Home department have now however informed Adv. Aires Rodrigues that the Goa Government has not taken a decision not to press for the death sentence. It may be recalled that South Goa Sessions Judge on June 15, 2007 had awarded the death penalty to Ryan Fernandes, the main accused, and sentenced three other co-accused Mr. Francis D'Sa, Mr. Rajendra Singh and Mr. Sachin Parab to life imprisonment in the sensational murder case of Dr Shrikant Verekar. The 55-year-old doctor from Vasco was murdered on Monday 17th Jan 2005 after being abducted. The body of the slain doctor was found seven hours later at Cansaulim. A death penalty awarded cannot be executed unless it is confirmed by the High Court. The confirmation of the death sentence seems to be taking longer than the investigation and trial of the case itself. The confirmation case from 2007 has been adjourned time and again inspite of the court repeatedly making it very clear that no further adjournments would be granted. Interestingly the confirmation case is pending since 2007 despite the Supreme Court ruling that the confirmation cases have to be heard and disposed very expeditiously. This is the only confirmation case pending before the Bombay High Court at Goa. The last time a confirmation case was filed before the Bombay High Court at Goa was in 2005 against Soiru Gaonkar of Cuncolim which was disposed within a year in 2006 There is a need for a Vigilance probe into all the bills submitted by Adv. Amit Desai and Advocate General Subodh Kantak’s questionable role in the whole case. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372
