Court allows Banastarim crash accused to travel abroad

Panaji: A local court permitted accused builder Shripad alias Paresh Sinai Sawardekar, who was allegedly driving the Mercedes-Benz SUV that killed three people in Banastarim on Aug 6, 2023, to travel abroad next month for a holiday.

Sawardekar submitted to the court that he wished to travel to Cambodia via Thailand between Jan 9 and 18. The assistant public prosecutor opposed his application to ensure that he did not abscond and was available to face trial, but the court said that his liberty could not be curtailed merely because a chargesheet was pending against him.




The court observed that he has fulfilled all conditions imposed on him from time to time by various courts in respect of his applications to travel abroad. “...the record indicates that the Applicant has a clean record when it comes to obeying the orders of the court.”

“The court is conscious of the fact that every person has a right to travel abroad. The court cannot and must not, without any proper reason, curtail the liberty of a person, especially when the court is conscious of the fact that this trial will take at least a reasonable time to complete,” stated judicial magistrate first class, A Court Ponda, Carlo Santana da Silva.

In Oct, the court had permitted him to travel to Spain for a family holiday.