Desmond suspended, lawyers boycott & march in protest
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 10 February 2011 17:48 IST
South Goa lawyers are up in arms. They boycotted court proceedings and even took out a morcha against the Principal District and Sessions judge Utkarsh Bakre for being instrumental in suspending an upright judge Desmond D’Costa, the district and additional sessions judge of South Goa.
D’Costa was suspended yesterday by the Bombay high court, pending inquiry. Officially, nobody knows why he has been suspended.
However, sources claim that he has been charged with speedy disposal of the case of Dupatta killer Mahanand Naik and acquitting him.
The lawyers have decided to continue their boycott until judge Desmond is reinstated.
Judge D’Costa had acquitted Mahanand in March last year in a case of alleged murder of Nirmala Amonkar in February 2008. The prosecution had failed to produce enough evidence to prove that Mahanand had killed her.
Mahanand has been charged with killing around 14 women in 15 years, by strangulating them with their own dupatta, after promising them to get married and then robbing them of their money and gold ornaments.
According to sources, Judge D’Costa had heard and disposed off the case while holding charge of Principal district and sessions judge, as judge Bakre was on a leave due to illness.
It is learnt that Bakre complained to the high court against Judge D’Costa for disposing off the case without listening to all the witnesses. Accordingly, he was served with a show cause notice.
Sources claim that judge D’Costa replied to all the objections while asserting that the case was disposed off as prosecution had no witnesses left to produce while the upper court had directed to dispose off cases of under trials speedily as the jails were getting congested.
In spite of this, judge D’Costa was served with suspension notice.
This created furore in the legal fraternity. Adv Anacleto Viegas, the president of South Goa Advocates’ Association, condemned the suspension, stating there is no case to suspend the judge.
The lawyers belonging to Margao and Quepem courts today morning boycotted the proceedings and marched to judge Bakre’s office. Instead of meeting them, judge Bakre initially chose to closet himself in the cabin under police protection.
However, later he met the lawyers in the open court hall. He claimed the suspension has not come on the basis of his complaint, when lawyers demanded explanation of the content of his complaint.
He also clarified that nothing has remained in his hands and the inquiry would be conducted by the high court.
The lawyers would meet the registrar of Bombay high court at Goa tomorrow afternoon, in order to seek explanation and convey their decision about continued boycott until judge D’Costa is reinstated.
Adv Mario Pinto Almeida, member of Goa State Law Commission and a senior lawyer, has described it as a second ‘black day’ in the history of Goan judiciary. The earlier one, he recalled, was when judge Anuja Prabhudesai was suspended. She has now been reinstated almost after a year.
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Suspended animation, because no reason assigned, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, for otherwise an upright judge, pre-emptive strike for expediency, no respect for past performance record, and choose anyone or a couple of reasons, even the courts plying the game of politics rather than jurisprudence.
- Ludovico, Olg-Goa | 11 th February 2011 11:24
The history of independent India is full of honest people being victimised/murdered and the corrupt being rewarded.
As per the public image Hon. Justice Desmond D'Costa had an impeccable integrity and was a forth right Judge.
Sudden action against him puts everybody in a quandary.
The common man has the right to know as to what is his crime. Is quick disposal a case- when lakhs and crores of cases pending in various courts--a crime ?
All right thinking Advocates are well justified in adopting all constitutional methods to save the reputation of the forthright, honest Judge.
May God save the innocent from victimisation.........
- vishwas prabhudesai, loliem | 10 th February 2011 19:59
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