Panaji, Aug 27 (PTI) AAP Goa unit chief Amit Palekar on Tuesday challenged a local court’s order which cancelled his conditional bail in connection with the 2023 road accident case in the Bombay High Court bench here even as the crime branch launched a hunt to trace him.
Palekar’s conditional bail in the case was cancelled by the additional sessions judge Apurva Nagvekar on Monday.
Three persons were killed on August 6, 2023, when a speeding Mercedes car hit multiple vehicles on Banastarim bridge near Panaji. At the time, the Crime Branch had arrested Palekar for allegedly tampering with evidence and trying to produce a decoy driver to protect the accused Paresh Sawardekar who was allegedly at the wheel.
Palekar on Tuesday moved the high court through his lawyer Nitin Sardesai seeking the revocation of the district court’s order. The high court reserved the hearing on the application for Wednesday.
A police official had said Palekar will have to surrender in the light of the lower court’s order and he will be taken into custody as per the court’s directives.
Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Rahul Gupta on Tuesday said police are searching for Palekar.
He didn’t elaborate on whether police had any clues about the AAP leader’s whereabouts.
The Crime Branch last week moved an application seeking cancellation of Palekar’s bail claiming he was given permission by court to travel to France but he visited some other countries as well, thus violating bail conditions.
In the order pronounced on Monday, the judge pointed out that the prosecution had argued that the permission was granted to Palekar on November 08, 2023, only to visit France.
However, the prosecution argued that the respondent (Palekar) had travelled to countries such as Thailand, UAE, and Hong Kong without obtaining permission from the court, which violated bail conditions.
Advocate Sardesai, representing Palekar, admitted his client had travelled to four countries as specified in the application for the cancellation of the bail.
The application for cancellation of bail is politically motivated since the respondent is the president of the Aam Aadmi Party in Goa and has been vocal against the government as well as the law and order situation prevailing in the state, he had told the court.
“The respondent has not clearly asked for permission to travel to whichever country he wants in connection with his profession or leisure. By visiting foreign countries like Thailand, UAE, and Hong Kong without prior permission from the court, the respondent has violated bail conditions,” Judge Nagvekar stated in the order on Monday. PTI RPS NSK
