Goa court acquits minister Godinho in 1998 power rebate scam; he says waited 27 yrs for justice

Panaji, Aug 25 (PTI) A special court here on Monday acquitted Goa Transport and Panchayati Raj Minister Mauvin Godinho in a power rebate 'scam' of 1998.

The minister, who held charge of Goa's power department in 1998, was accused of granting a rebate to industrial units, causing a loss of Rs 4.52 crore to the state exchequer.

The then Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar had exposed the case and filed a complaint against Godinho.

In the verdict pronounced on Monday in an open court, Special Judge Irshad Agha acquitted Godinho of the charges.

The minister was present in the court when it pronounced the verdict.

Reacting to the judgement, Godinho told reporters outside the court that he waited for 27 years to get justice.

"I am really happy that justice has finally been delivered," he said.

"Even though I had to wait for so long, I always maintained that this was not prosecution as such but political persecution right from the beginning." "So, I am happy to come out of it," he added.

As per the chargesheet, a 25 per cent rebate on electricity tariffs was issued to industrial units under a notification dated June 27, 1998, allowing concessions from the moment electricity supply commenced.

The notification was issued when Mauvin Godinho served as the power minister.

Parrikar, in his complaint to the state police, had alleged that the rebate was granted without proper consultation of the state cabinet, which violated the Rules of Business governing government decisions.

The Goa crime branch, which investigated the case, arrested Godinho in May 2001 along with former chief electrical engineer of the power department, T Nagarajan, and was later granted bail.

In 2006, the special court framed charges against Godinho under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The minister had appealed against the chargesheet before the Bombay High Court's Goa bench.

The HC in 2007 held there was prima facie material to continue the trial.

In 2018, Godinho's plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court, which upheld the HC's decision.

Later in January 2022, the HC directed the trial court to expedite the proceedings and complete the recording of evidence by January 15 that year.

In May 2022, Godinho and the co-accused moved the special court to halt the proceedings, arguing that a reinvestigation was unlawful as proper procedure was not followed. The application was denied by the court.

In July 2022, a special judge dismissed their discharge applications, ordering the trial to proceed.

In May 2023, the special court granted Godinho permanent exemption from personal appearance, subject to availability when required. PTI RPS GK