Congress blasted the Goa govt for deputing Minister Mauvin Godinho, accused in a power scam, to receive CJI Bhushan Gavai. The party called it “brazenly insensitive” and a “mockery of judicial sanctity.”
The Goa Congress has strongly objected to the state government’s decision to send cabinet minister Mauvin Godinho to officially welcome Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Gavai during his recent visit to the state.
In a letter written to the CJI, Goa Congress vice-president Sunil Kawthankar said the move was completely wrong and went against basic public values.
He called it
“brazenly insensitive and contemptuous of public morality.”
Kawthankar reminded the Chief Justice that Mauvin Godinho has a pending appeal before the Supreme Court itself. This appeal challenges a Bombay High Court order that had directed him to face trial in an alleged power scam.
He stated that by giving such a responsibility to a person whose case is still being heard in court, the government has insulted the very system of justice. As he wrote,
“Govt has mocked the sanctity of the judicial process by placing an accused, whose case is sub-judice before the very institution your lordship presides over, as the face of the state’s reception.”
The Congress leader further warned that this kind of action can create a dangerous example in the future. According to him,
“allowing individuals facing trial in corruption cases to represent the state before the judiciary sets a dangerous precedent”
and it also sends a wrong message to the people that
“political convenience trumps morality.”
In the end, the letter requested the Supreme Court to think about giving an official guideline on this issue. Kawthankar urged that governments should not deputise or nominate people who have pending criminal or corruption cases for ceremonial duties connected with the judiciary.
The Congress has said that such decisions reduce people’s faith in the justice system and weaken the moral standards expected from those in public office.
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