Errors in suicide note plea fails to get relief for minister's kin

Counsel for Goa Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho's brother, Wilson, who is embroiled in an abetment to suicide case, in an anticipatory bail hearing claimed relief from the High Court citing uncharacteristic grammatical errors in the victim's suicide note, as grounds for relief from arrest.

A written copy of the order, which was given by Justice Nutan Sardesai of the Panaji High Court bench in Goa on Thursday, was made available in the public domain on Friday.

Godinho and one person named Tahir were booked as abettors by the Goa Police in the alleged suicide of Prakash Naik, a local Panchayat member and a real estate developer, who was found dead from gunshot wounds at his residence near Panaji last month.

In his argument before the court, Godinho's counsel Nitin Sardesai had also contended that Naik's death appeared to be a case of murder and not suicide.

According to the court order, Sardesai also cited grammatical errors in the Whatsapp message sent by Naik to friends, just before he allegedly committed suicide, as grounds for de-linking Godinho from the crime.

"It was also his contention that the WhatsApp message purportedly from the deceased relating to his suicide did not co-relate with the WhatsApp chat which the deceased had with his friend which showed minimal grammatical errors unlike those in the WhatsApp message," the order paraphrases Godinho's lawyer Nitin Sardesai as saying.

"It was his (Sardesai) contention that it was for the investigating agency to find out whether the note was planted and whether it was a case of murder or suicide," the order reads.

Declining Godinho's plea for anticipatory bail, Justice Sardesai said the custodial interrogation of the Goa Panchayat Minister's brother was necessary for investigation of the circumstances of Prakash Naik's death.

"The applicant, if he is a law abiding citizen, should not dither or elude the course of interrogation to clear his name and there is no such thing that his name is likely to be tarnished, only because his custodial interrogation is the need of the hour," the order reads.IANS