Vishwajit Rane case: Aires slaps Goa Chief Sec with legal notice

Adv. Aires Rodrigues on 8th August served a legal notice on Goa’s Chief Secretary Sanjay Srivastava for the failure of the Old Goa Police to initiate action as directed by the Bombay High Court at Goa in the criminal case against Goa’s Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.

The notice has been served fearing that the State Advocate General Subodh Kantak may manipulate the state machinery to save the Health Minister from facing criminal charges in the threat to kill case.

On 21st July the High Court had directed the Old Goa Police to act in accordance with Section 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Section 155 of the Criminal Procedure Code mandates that the police have to seek an order of the Magistrate to investigate any non-cognizable offence.
Adv. Rodrigues has in his notice to the Chief Secretary stated that though the High Court had issued the directions on 21st July no action has yet been taken by the Old Goa Police to seek orders from the Judicial Magistrate under Section 155 for investigation of the offence under Section 506(2) of Indian Penal Code against Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.

Adv. Rodrigues has told the the Chief Secretary that due and prompt compliance of the High Court directives was needed, especially in view of the fact that the accused was none other than the Health Minister of the State.

He has also drawn the Chief Secretary’s attention that failure to comply with the High Court’s order would amount to contempt of Court.

Meanwhile Adv. Aires Rodrigues has stated that he would next week challenge before the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition the verdict of Bombay High Court at Goa holding that an offence under Sec 506 ( threat to kill) of Indian Penal Code was non-cognizable.

Adv. Aires Rodrigues has stated that the Supreme Court would have to examine on the point of law the decision of the High Court that the Goa government had no powers to issue a notification making Sec 506 cognizable. 

Sec 506 had been made cognizable by a notification issued by the Goa Government in 1973 when Pratapsingh Rane, father of Vishwajit Rane was the Law Minister and over the years hundreds of persons have been charge sheeted and prosecuted under this section.

However when Section 506 was invoked against Health Minister Mr. Vishwajit Rane, the Goa Government suddenly took a stand that the section was non-cognizable. A controversial proposal was hurriedly moved on 30th June last year by Advocate General of Goa Subodh Kantak to instruct all Public Prosecutors to withdraw all cases filed by the police under Sec 506 of I.P.C as the section was non-cognizable. That proposal was approved by the Government that same day late night.