Will Goa chief minister be quizzed in IFFI scam case?

PANAJI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday dodged queries from the media on whether Chief Minister Digambar Kamat would be quizzed in connection with a multi-crore rupee scam relating to construction of infrastructure for the 2004 International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

Speaking to reporters in Panaji Monday, Joint Director CBI Rishiraj Singh said he was “not in a position to tell” at this juncture whether Kamat would be questioned.

Kamat was formerly a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister and a crucial member of the IFFI core committee, which is alleged to have been responsible for financial misappropriation.

“Whatever will happen, will unfold, I can’t tell you,” Singh told reporters, adding that the investigation was still incomplete.

“Until now, the CBI has not found the chief minister’s involvement. The investigation is incomplete. You will come to know as and when something happens,” Singh said in a guarded response.

Singh further said that the CBI would be filing their charge sheet in the same case in the next two months.

“We are filing charge sheet in the case very soon… within a month or two, we are in the final phase of the investigation,” the official said.

The CBI is probing 22 allegations against former BJP chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who was the chairman of the core committee for IFFI 2004, when the scam is alleged to have occurred.

The complaint was filed by Congress MLA Mauvin Godinho, who was earlier booked for a power scam by the BJP-led coalition government in the state in 2001.

Parrikar’s interrogation by the CBI sleuths earlier this month had created a turmoil in the political circles here with chief minister Kamat surprisingly giving the senior BJP leader a clean chit.

“I was part of the core committee myself… I don’t think any wrong decision was taken by the core committee which decided on infrastructure creation,” the Congress chief minister had said, indirectly absolving Parrikar of the charges levelled against him.