Panaji: Expressing shock at the “shoddy investigation” into a complaint of alleged fraud and misappropriation at Goa State Cooperative Bank, Panaji, a North Goa court has directed the police inspector of the crime branch to conduct further investigation and submit a report within six months.
“We must not lose sight of the fact that crores of rupees of the bank are involved in the present case. Any person involved in defrauding the bank should not go unpunished on account of faulty investigation,” stated chief judicial magistrate, Ram S Prabhu Dessai. “Similarly, an innocent person should not suffer due to false implication on account of such faulty investigation. The faulty investigation cannot be grounds to escape from the clutches of the law,” the court stated.
“…if this court takes a technical view and discharges the accused in the present, this court will be failing in its duty. It will further amount to total miscarriage of justice and further lead to draining of faith of the common people in the criminal justice system,” the court further stated.
A complaint was lodged by the general manager (Vigilance) of the Goa State Cooperative Bank, Panaji, in relation to the fraud and misappropriation done with respect to the work of the construction of the head office of the bank.
The complaint deals with specific allegations against the chairman, vice-chairman, executive committee, board of directors (BOD) and employees of the bank.
The police basically relied on the report of the House Committee without doing any further investigation regarding veracity of the contents of the report and findings, the court stated, adding that the investigation pertaining to non-compliances and violations of rules and bylaws are not even touched upon during investigation.
“The specific allegations made in the complaint are not at all looked into by investigating officer (IO). Instead of doing the investigation in the right direction, for the reasons best known to him, he has taken the course of the investigation in a totally wrong direction,” the court stated. (Source: Times of India)
