Social activist Advocate Aires Rodrigues in a memorandum to Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily and Bombay High Court Chief Justice Mohit Shah has requested them to direct the Goa Government to order a probe into all the alleged financial and other irregularities by Advocate General of Goa Subodh Kantak.

The Union Law Minister and Bombay High Court Chief Justice are in Goa to attend a conference on judiciary related to the 13th Finance Commission.

The memoranda gave details of the various alleged irregularities by the AG including the excessive and double billing on account of which the State exchequer had to pay Rs 4,20,18,750 by way of fees for the period from June 2005 to July 2009.

It had also highlighted the Saleli case in which the AG appeared in the High Court on January 27, 2006 in the bail applications of 102 accused where the AG raised a bill and was paid 102 times of Rs 8,000 (Rs eight lakhs sixteen thousand), although it was a common argument for the whole batch of bail applications for which he should have claimed only Rs 8000.

Stating that an Advocate General with his unblemished character and impeccable integrity should be a role model to the entire legal fraternity, advocate Aires Rodrigues stated that Mr Subodh Kantak has allegedly tarnished not only the image of advocates, but brought the office of the AG into disrepute.

He had also urged the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court not to confer Mr Kantak with the status of a senior advocate.

Mr Rodrigues called upon the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee of the Goa Legislative Assembly for issuing summons to the AG to seek his explanation on the allegations of financial impropriety.

Whereas the State Government is not in a position to take up developmental projects and spend money towards the common man, the tax payer’s money was apparently being mis-utilised by the AG, he pointed out.

UNI