It is outrageous and condemnable that the Advocates were informed through an advertisement in the newspapers that the Panaji Civil and Criminal Courts were being shifted to the building ‘Spaces’ at Patto Plaza. A total and very high-handed disrespect to the Bar and the legal fraternity. Protocol and Propriety required that the shifting of the Courts should have been intimated in written to the duly elected Advocate Associations. The move to shift the Panaji Courts to Patto Plaza has now however rightly been kept on hold.
Then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in 2013 had in a very fraudulent manner got the government to lease those premises at ‘Spaces’ from his friend Nilesh Amonkar. The rent of around 40 lakhs a month is being paid from 1st November 2013 while the premises remain unused. The renting of the extremely exorbitantly priced premises from Nilesh Amonkar who is known to be close to Manohar Parrikar was a well stitched multi crore scam and a neatly planned plot to benefit Nilesh Amonkar. The government managed to arm twist the Courts to use those premises without taking into account that the shifting of the Courts there was neither feasible nor desirable for varied and cogent reasons. The Judiciary should not compromise its independence and succumb to such devious moves of the government. Moving the Panaji Courts to ‘Spaces’ as a stop gap arrangement till the Court complex at Merces is ready makes no sense. Instead the Merces Court complex project should be expedited to avoid this unnecessary colossal and criminal waste of public funds. On 2nd November 2009 the foundation stone was laid for the North Goa District and Sessions Court Complex at Merces which was supposed to house all the Panaji Courts. We were then promised that the premises would be ready within a year. It will soon be six long years to the laying of that foundation stone and not a brick has been cast with that foundation stone itself having long gone missing with those building design plans by now perhaps feasted on by the white ants. It was only another example of burdening the tax payer by lavish and very injudicious spending on such pretentious functions which seem to be ending up as a mere gathering of stones. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires