Louis Berger case: Court to hear Digambar Kamat's bail plea on August 7

Panaji: A local court on Wednesday fixed August 7 for hearing the anticipatory bail application of former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat who has been questioned by Crime Branch in connection with the Louis Berger bribery scandal.

The district and sessions court reserved the hearing after the Crime Branch stated in the afternoon that it was not ready with reply to the notice it had received from the court on Kamat's plea.

Kamat had moved the court on Tuesday fearing arrest in connection with the scandal involving the US-based firm. The 61-year-old Congress leader was heading the state between 2007-2012 when the New Jersey-based consultancy firm allegedly doled out bribes to a Goa minister to win the consultancy for a water project under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding.

Kamat, along with the then PWD minister Churchill Alemao, was questioned by the Crime Branch twice last week.

In a related development, the court remanded former JICA director for Goa, Anand Wachasunder in judicial custody for seven days.

The Crime Branch had separately arrested Wachasunder and former vice-president of Louis Berger, Satyakam Mohanty in connection with the case. Mohanty was yesterday remanded in police custody for three days.

Officials of Louis Berger had admitted in the US court that they bribed Indian officials with several crores of rupees to win two major water developmental projects in Goa and Assam.

The alleged bribery scam of USD 976,630 for the Goa project included kickbacks to a minister, the details of which have not been disclosed by the US Department of Justice.

All the tenders for the JICA project, of which Louis Berger was the consultant were issued as per Central Public Works Department prescribed norms.