‘No reason to believe Mickky is unaware of NBW’

Margao: While issuing the proclamation order against absconding former minister Francisco ‘Mickky’ Pacheco on Wednesday, a local court at Margao observed that there is no reason to believe that the accused, who is an MLA, is not aware of the ‘non bailable warrant’ against him.
JMFC judge Pooja Kavlekar stated, “The court has also taken note of the fact that the accused in the case is an MLA.Therefore, there is no reason to believe that the accused is not aware of the process against him and therefore, out of ignorance is not surrendering before the court or before the police.”
The judge noted that the present legal position of the accused becomes relevant and as per records, the sentence against the accused is not suspended.
“The accused is neither on bail nor on probation. There is nothing on record to suggest that the accused has been given time by a competent court to surrender before the trial court. Therefore, the freedom that the accused claims by his act of ‘disappearing’ is not a legitimate freedom when viewed from the perspective of law,” Kavlekar observed.
The court had ordered the issue of proclamation notice against him after the police failed to execute the non bailable warrant against him. The police are searching for Pacheco to produce him before the court in connection with the sentence of six months imprisonment imposed on him for slapping a junior engineer of electricity department.