Court discharges 24 fishermen in 2016 rioting case

Panaji: A North Goa court discharged 24 traditional fishermen, including Olencio Simoes, in the rioting case dating back to May 12, 2016, after it found no direct evidence against them.Members of the fishing community gathered in Panaji near the directorate of fisheries to protest against the use of LED lights and bull trawling, unnatural fishing in Goa. The court discharged them after finding no direct evidence against them. The prosecution’s case was that they formed an unlawful assembly, violating the order of the district magistrate, abused police personnel with filthy language, threatened and assaulted them, and obstructed them from discharging their duties.“...it appears that prima facie, there is no direct evidence to allege culpability upon the accused and to conclude that they committed the alleged offence and hence the accused are entitled for benefit of doubt and deserve to be discharged,” stated JMFC F court, Ankita Navgenkar.The chargesheet revealed that every witness’ supplementary statement was recorded almost 2 to 3 days after the incident to cast guilt specifically against these accused, the court stated. “It is therefore very apparent that it was recorded as an afterthought. Moreover, almost every witness enlisted is a police witness except for few others,” the court stated.It observed that the accused were not arrested for assaulting, abusing, or threatening police personnel while they were discharging their duties. “It is not the case of the prosecution that these persons only were the ones who obstructed the police in discharging their duties. In fact, the complaint reveals that the police, using force, were successful in dispersing the agitators and also cleared the traffic," the court observed.“It is not the case of the complainant that these persons continued to obstruct the police in carrying out their duties. Merely questioning the police cannot invoke the sections levelled against the accused,” the court held.