Mickky's wait for bail gets longer

PANAJI: A single bench of the high court of Bombay at Goa on Friday declined to hear the anticipatory bail applications filed in the Nadia Torrado case by absconding former tourism minister Francisco “Mickky” Pacheco and his former officer on special duty Lyndon Monteiro.
Justice N A Britto passed an order saying “‘not before me” when the bail applications came up for hearing before him on Friday morning.Pacheco and Lyndon would now have to move an application before the chief justice of the Bombay high court for him to allot their applications to another judge.
Interestingly, in order to avoid appearing in person in the high court office, the fresh applications were accompanied by affidavits sworn before a notary public. Pacheco’s application was sworn before a notary in Margao, while Monteiro’s was done in Mumbai.
The duo had approached the high court after the south Goa additional sessions judge rejected their respective anticipatory bail applications.
Meanwhile, the crime branch on Friday issued fresh summons to Nadia’s brother Conrad to appear before it on Saturday. Salcete sub-divisional magistrate Agnelo Fernandes had recorded the statements of Nadia’s mother, Sonia, and brothers Conrad and Romell, on Thursday.
The SDM is investigating into the case as Nadia’s death came within seven years of her marriage.
Nadia, a “close friend” of Pacheco, had died on May 29 in a Chennai hospital after consuming rat poison. A case had been filed against Pacheco under Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC.
Pacheco, who has been named the main accused in the case and his close aide Monteiro are absconding and have managed to evade arrest so far.