BY A GT REPORTER
PANJIM: Former Union Minister and chaiman of Mapusa Urban Cooperative Bank Limited Ramakant Khalap along with a few members of the board of directors and a loanee got a reprive in the Bombay High Court at Goa when the latter set aside the order of the Sessions Court refusing to withdraw criminal cases filed against them in 2003.
The High Court observed that there was no reason for the Additional Sessions Court to dismiss the plea of the Bank when it had managed to get the loan recovered from the defaulting parties.
The petitioners including Khalap and others had approached the High Court stating that there was no reason to continue with the criminal case against them when the Bank had recovered the loans granted to three firms from Bangalore about 11 years ago. The Bank had also made a request to the state government in this regard.
However, the Sessions Court while rejecting their appeal in October 2007, stated that all these facts were not brought on record and also repayment of loan was not a ground to withdraw criminal cases. It also upheld the order passed by the JMFC, Mapusa in April 2007.
The CID/Crime Branch, Panjim had registered misappropriation and cheating case against Khalap and 13 others in connection with the release of Rs 3.5-crore loan to a partnership firm from Bangalore, without allegedly following proper procedure for its building project - M/s Vasanta Farms between 1998 and 1999.Besides, the board of directors, the partners of Vasanta Farms were also named as accused in the case.
Advocates Atmaram Nadkarni and Mahesh Sonak argued on behalf of the firms and the Mapusa Bank respectively while, public prosecutors Adv Carlos Ferreira and Winnie Coutinho represented the state.
