Panaji: Bombay high court rejected anticipatory bail to the disqualified sarpanch of Arpora-Nagoa, Roshan Redkar, in connection with the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub fire that killed 25. It observed that he is a public servant, an elected representative, and an important functionary of the panchayat, and that the accusations against him are serious and grave.
Since he holds a position of influence over the panchayat staff, he may intimidate or influence witnesses and tamper with evidence, the court said, observing that when he was summoned at Anjuna police station for investigation on Dec 7, he gathered a mob of at least 100 people at the police station and obstructed investigation.Redkar’s role in facilitating the creation of false and fabricated documents needs to be investigated further to ascertain and unearth the ramifications involved in the conspiracy, the court stated.“In my considered opinion, the undue haste of the panchayat in granting the trade licence to Birch by Romeo Lane, in stark violation of the memorandum of guidelines issued by the directorate of panchayats without mandatory NOCs, the interpolation in the application for trade licence when in the custody of the panchayat, and the manipulation of the instrument of licence, when seen in the light of the nexus between the applicant and the licensees and operators of Birch by Romeo Lane, certainly indicate sufficient material collected by the investigating agency to show, prima facie, the involvement of the applicant,” observed Justice Ashish Chavan.The court stated that it found merit in the arguments of assistant public prosecutor S Karpe that investigation is required to identify other public servants, intermediaries, and facilitators, and to correlate documentary evidence, administrative records, and data to establish the chain of culpability in the conspiracy to manipulate, change, alter, or forge public documents in the panchayat to facilitate the owners of unauthorised structures carrying on their commercial trade and business without NOCs, permissions, or licences from public bodies.The court observed that the copy of the instrument of licence inwarded at the panchayat does not bear any house number corresponding to the structure, ie, Birch by Romeo Lane, while the copy of the instrument of licence submitted to the excise department, FSSAI, and Goa State Pollution Control Board was manipulated by inserting the house number, and this manipulated document was then submitted to various departments.“The insertion of the house number in the application for trade licence and the instrument of licence assumes significance in the light of the fact that the house number — which was subsequently inserted in the application for trade licence — does not correspond to survey number 158, but is part of survey number 159. The house number reflected in the application for trade licence exists in survey number 158, whereas Birch by Romeo Lane is a structure existing at the centre of a salt pan and paddy field which fall under survey number 159. Thus, the said structure could not be allotted the house number since it is illegal,” the court observed, adding that this fact was known to Redkar since records and previous correspondence of the panchayat indicate the same.The court added that he knew of the site inspection on Jan 17, 2024 by the Panchayat, which clearly indicates that Birch by Romeo Lane was an unauthorised structure.“Thus, the insertion of the house number in the application for trade licence after the same was inwarded at the office of the panchayat is not the correction of an inadvertent mistake but is a creation of a false and fabricated document using the house number to give an impression of legitimacy by projecting that the structure was an authorised one despite the fact that the applicant was aware that it was an unauthorised structure,” the court held. It observed that additional offences added during the investigation of forgery and criminal conspiracy were serious in nature.
