Panaji (Goa): In a quick development after the District & Sessions Court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against sitting legislator Digambar Kamat, it was soon withdrawn after his lawyer filed a petition requesting the warrant’s cancellation.

Senior Counsel Surendra Desai, appearing for Kamat, has confirmed the development stating they were suppose to move the court seeking the latter’s exemption from appearing in the Louis Berger bribery scam hearing. “We were ready with the application seeking an exemption from personally appearing in the case, every time it comes up for hearing. But by the time we reached the court, the matter had come up and since neither the alleged accused nor the lawyer was present, the court had to order issuance of NBW,” he told this reporter.

The counsel soon filed an application seeking withdrawal of the oral order, which was accepted by Principal Sessions Judge. The NBW was later withdrawn giving Kamat a sigh of relief.

The Margao legislator is named as ‘prime conspirator’ in one of the biggest scams in the country also involving former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao, the firm itself, a hawala operator and other officials of the company.

Two former LB executives – James McClung, 60, was sentenced District Judge Mary Cooper in Trenton, New Jersey, to one year in prison while Richard Hirsch, 62, was sentenced by the judge for two years of probation and fined $10,000. Interestingly, one of the main accused McClung’s sentence period comes to an end and neither the CB has been able to take his custody nor the charge is framed against any accused.

The CB had registered an FIR on July 21, 2015 and submitted the charge sheet in court on September 25, 2015 against seven accused. A supplementary charge sheet was filed on October 27, 2016 after it failed to get custody of Kamat, whose anticipatory bail is still pending in the apex court.

Team TNV