Describing former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat as a "habitual offender involved in corrupt practices", the Goa crime branch has alleged before a court in Panaji that he "actively participated" in the conspiracy and was among the beneficiaries in Louis Berger bribery case.
"I am leaving for Delhi on a business trip. It is purely personal," Kamat said before boarding the flight.
Goa Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday told the state legislative assembly that it can be 'inferred' that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat might have been involved in illegal mining activities.
The complaint, to be registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of vigilance department, indirectly refers to Kamat, who was also the mines minister, as it will book former mines and geology department director Arvind Lolienkar, his superiors and subordinates for alleged illegal recruitment in the department, in December last year.
Former Public Works Department Minister Churchill Alemao has been arrested in connection with the Louis Berger bribery case by Goa police which is closing in on former chief minister Digambar Kamat and preparing to oppose his anticipatory bail plea.
According to sources, the Goa Congress unit has not held a single meeting after it failed to reach the majority mark of 21 in the 40-member assembly.
Kamat is the second minister in Nitish Kumar's cabinet to succumb to the infection this week.
His son Sunil lighted the pyre and a police contingent gave the departed leader a gun salute.
The swearing-in ceremony will be held at the Raj Bhavan at 11 am, sources said.
Goa's former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was asked to furnish a surety of Rs 1 lakh.
Six others, including the then PWD minister Churchill Alemao, were also listed in the charge sheet in the scam in which the US firm has been charged with bribing Indian officials to win two water developmental projects in Goa and Guwahati.
Back from Delhi, Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat on Tuesday said that "he would continue to be the chief minister till God wants him to be."
Former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat has now been charged with disappearance of evidence in Louis Berger bribery case in addition to various sections of Prevention of Corruption of Act and IPC.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel, who announced after day-long consultations among all concerned parties that the four-day old crisis has been resolved, sidestepped questions on whether it involved some changes in the ministry.
The CJI told lawyer Singhvi, "No, but status quo ante would have been a logical thing to do provided that you had lost the trust vote on the floor of the house. Because, then clearly you have been ousted from power based on the trust vote, which could be set aside. Look at the intellectual conundrum. You chose not to face the trust vote."
Goa CM Kamat leaves no stone unturned in an effort to revoke the SEZs passed by the Central Govt.
Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Thursday said that the officials from state mines and geology department protecting illegal mines, will be dealt with stern punishment.
They said this was preliminary voter turnout and the final figure may cross 80 per cent as electoral fate of 301 candidates were locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.
The Congress has accused the two MLAs of hobnobbing with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to bring about a split in the opposition party.
Digambar Kamat has been summoned by the Crime Branch to appear before it on Wednesday in connection with the case.
Five Goa Congress MLAs, who went incommunicado a day before, attended the state assembly proceedings on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday, and claimed there was 'nothing wrong' in the opposition party.
'TMC was calling me, AAP was also calling me.' 'But my supporters helped me realise that the people of Goa are backing the Congress this time to defeat the BJP.'
Against the backdrop of allegations pertaining to illegal mining, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Though the Kamat government has been facing heat over alleged instances of illegal mining in the state, the change of leadership is not on the cards at least till the Justice M B Shah Commission probing illegal mining submits its report. Kamat said his meeting with Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday was a courtesy call.
Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat has termed his Gujarat counterpart and firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi as his 'best friend'. During a press briefing, Kamat said Modi was his 'best friend' and added that he will visit Gujarat if the state government invites him. "When I am in Delhi for any conference, I have Sheila Dikshit on one side and Narendra Modi on the other. He is my best friend," Kamat, who was earlier in the BJP, told media persons.
Goa Police on Thursday conducted searches at the residence of former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and in other places in the state in connection with the Louis Berger bribery case.
Former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat, who was indicted by Justice M B Shah Commission in its report on illegal mining in the state, on Friday said the commission never asked him to present his side of the story. "I was never called for any inquiry or justification by the Shah Commission. Whatever is interpreted by the Commission in the report should be verified by the state government," Kamat said, reacting to the report for the first time.
The verdict will be delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
His remarks drew flak from Opposition Congress which alleged that it reflected the 'racist attitude' of the BJP government.
In the 2017 state assembly polls, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party by winning 17 seats.
The file allocating the departments was sent to Governor S C Jamir late Wednesday night. A formal notification is expected on Thursday.
A 36-year-old conman, who allegedly duped Congress Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Vijay Darda of Rs 34 lakh by posing as former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat, has been arrested, police said on Friday. The accused, Digambar alias Balasaheb Khaire Patil, was arrested from Solapur.
Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, who earned the ire of Congress colleagues for his statement calling Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi his 'best friend', on Saturday said the remark was taken out of context and expressed his commitment to secularism. "My statement has been taken out of context solely to create media and political hype," Kamat, who left the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2005 and joined the Congress, said, seeking to put a lid on the controversy over his remark.
Louis Berger officials had allegedly paid Rs 50-60 lakh each as bribe to former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and the then Public Works Department Minister Churchill Alemao.
In the backdrop of outrage over the rape-cum-murder of a British teenaged girl in Goa, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Tuesday insisted that the state was the "safest" destination for tourists as he briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the incident. "I appeal to all tourists Goa is the safest place and Goans are nice people," he told reporters after a meeting with Dr Singh where Goa MPs Shantaram Naik and Francisco Sardinha were also present.
Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said on Sunday that he was yet to receive any proposal from state home ministry on ban on Sanatan Sanstha, a right wing Hindu organisation, under scanner for its alleged role in Margao blast.
Former chief minister of Goa and Congress veteran Luizinho Faleiro, resigned as an MLA and a primary member of the party on Monday claiming the state party unit is run by a 'coterie' of leaders even as he praised Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee saying the country needs a leader like her to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is a record that the saffron party has created, where the majority of its legislators belonged to the minority community.
With just over a month to go for assembly elections in Goa, political observers feel the Congress may upset the Bharatiya Janata Party's plans for retaining power in the coastal state, but appear less enthused about the Trinamool Congress, whose entry has added colour to the poll campaign.
