A high court judge hearing the anticipatory bail plea of absconding former Goa minister Francesco Pacheco, key accused in the death of his woman friend, on Friday recused himself from the case.
Mr Pacheco, who resigned on June 5 from the state Cabinet in the wake of allegations about his involvement in the death of 28-year-old Nadia Torrado, had moved the Goa bench of the Bombay high court after his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a sessions court in Margao. The plea, in which the absconding NCP leader claimed the allegations against him were politically motivated, was fixed for hearing on Friday but judge Nelson Britto recused himself from the case when it came up before him this morning. However, no reason was given.
In the anticipatory bail petition, the 46-year-old lawmaker claimed that if he is arrested by the police, he would be subjected to “third degree” torture and will be “harassed” so as to extract confession. The Crime Branch has accused Mr Pacheco of abetment of suicide and destroying evidence in Nadia’s case.
Mr Pacheco claimed that the investigation was aimed at terminating his political career. “The petitioner will not receive fair treatment from the investigating agency. The investigation so far has been one sided and has been directed against the petitioner in order to fix him at any cost, by hook or crook,” it said. “The petitioner has reasons to believe that if he is arrested, he will be subjected to third degree methods and will be harassed so as to extract confession,” said the bail plea.
Mr Pacheco and his aide Lyndon Monteiro are on the run and have applied for anticipatory bail. The matter will now be put before the chief justice of the Bombay high court to be assigned to another bench. The former tourism minister said he is being suspected as he was a close friend of Nadia who died on May 30 at a private hospital in Chennai after allegedly consuming poison. —PTI