PRESIDENT OF INDIA URGED NOT TO CONSENT TO ATMARAM NADKARNI’S APPOINTMENT AS SUPREME COURT JUDGE

6th April  2016

To,

His Excellency

Shri Pranab Mukherjee

Honourable President of India

Rashtrapati Bhavan

NEW DELHI

 

SUB: PLEA NOT TO CONSENT TO ATMARAM NADKARNI BEING      

          APPOINTED AS SUPREME COURT JUDGE

 

Your Excellency,

Greetings from Goa!

 

By this letter may in public interest I most humbly seek your kind intervention to ensure that for the below mentioned compelling reasons the name of the very tainted Atmaram Nadkarni be not consented to for the coveted post of Supreme Court Judge.

It is with deep anguish and utter dismay that we have learnt of the secret back door machinations by the Advocate General of Goa Atmaram Nadkarni to try and get himself sneakingly elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. It would be the darkest ever day in the history of the Indian Judiciary if this were to ever be a reality.

Indias highest paid Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni by his blatant acts of omission and commission has brought utter and sheer disgrace to the high Constitutional post of Advocate General of Goa.

Professional ethics demands that a person occupying the high and solemn constitutional post as Advocate General should never appear for a private party in a case where the government is directly or even indirectly a party but this cardinal principle has been brazenly flouted by Atmaram Nadkarni in his never ending penchant for raking in the moolah even by any unholy means.

Persons appointed to any Constitutional position should never be someone who has a lust and  greed for wealth or having vested interest with any lobby but has to always ensure the States best interests at heart. They should act as a role model while upholding impeccable integrity and the highest ethical standards. Being important Constitutional functionaries their conduct at all times must be absolutely beyond any shadow of doubt. But the flamboyant Atmaram Nadkarni is known to be a man without any principles and someone who would dip even into the gutter if the stakes are high.

As Advocate General of Goa Atmaram Nadkarni has maintained close links with the Mining, Casino and Builders lobby while in violation of ethics and in conflict of interest has been appearing directly and indirectly in cases against the Government. Atmaram Nadkarni has also managed to get his very own close relative and legally poor knowledged Dattaprasad Lawande appointed as Government Advocate and as if that was not enough, as Additional Public Prosecutor in the High Court with absolutely no knowledge of criminal Law but drawing huge fixed amounts from the State’s exchequer, that too, with merely a solitary appearance in a month in criminal matters and to crown it all was also appointed as the Assistant Solicitor General of India.

There needs to be a probe into the mind boggling wealth and assets acquired by Atmaram Nadkarni over the last four years in particular as Advocate General of Goa. A report from the Intelligence Bureau if sought would reveal his dubious antecedents and conduct. Also it would be worthwhile to conduct an inquiry as to the persons with whom he has been interacting either in Goa or in Delhi including the now fugitive Vijay Mallya and this would only prove that these unwanted characters would be a major embarrassment for the Judiciary. Despite representing the State, he has chosen to appear for the establishments of Vijay Mallya, to protect Mallya’s interests, with his office juniors even appearing on other sides, all part of the big well stitched game.

Besides other politicians the flamboyant Atmaram Nadkarni is known to be also extremely close to Manohar Parrikar,  the now Defence Minister with both being privy to each others deals. Infact the manner in which Atmaram Nadkarni has been tagging Manohar Parrikar all along, he has been rightly taunted as Manohar Parrikars ADC and Man Friday. They have even travelled together all the way to the infamous red light “Walking Street” of Pattaya in Bangkok.   Manohar Parrikar later publicly clarified that their visit was not to have sex but that they merely enjoyed Thai massages. “Do I have to go so far for sex” is what Manohar Parrikar had the audacity of asking the journalists.

Atmaram Nadkarni has a very shady past who along  with the son of a then very prominent Margao politician  had gone dressed as  policemen, to rape foreigners in Benaulim village in South Goa and had got caught by the locals but  managed to escape from their clutches and flee. The case was hushed through the influence of the then prominent Margao Politician. Also less said the better is on his role in the then infamous Miramar sex scandal which allegedly involved prominent politicians and their kin.

As a lawyer, Atmaram Nadkarni had the dubious distinction of doing ‘fixing and setting’ of cases when his father-in-law the late, Mr. Vijay Nadkarni, was the Advocate General of Goa. Even before he was designated as Senior Counsel, Atmaram Nadkarni very highhandedly started wearing the Senior Counsel gown, which he had to stop wearing, upon the complaint by his own then Additional Advocate General Mr. Vilas Thali. Retired Justice R.M Lodha would be in a position to reveal why Atmaram Nadkarni’s bid to get his gown, was nixed initially by the Bombay High Court.

His love for money has not dwindled, even after assuming office as Advocate General.  In 2012 Atmaram Nadkarni on becoming the Advocate General managed to hike his fees to Rs. 8 Lakhs per month and is currently, the highest paid Advocate General of India  – being paid out of funds of the State exchequer.

While he continues to represent the Government, he has been advising and protecting the interests of the mining and other lobbies – even drafting Petitions for them (not just settling but even drafting), getting his juniors (by labelling them as former juniors), to represent.   Hanumant Naik, Pankaj Vernekar and Kaif Noorani amongst others are being used as proxies, to fight litigations. Unless a litigant pays his ‘respects’ to Atmaram Nadkarni, no reciprocal favour is done in Court.

In Goa we have been witness to Atmaram Nadkarni’s skills of wining and dining Judges. It has been painful to see some very good Judges being led astray. It was so unfortunate that the wife of a now retired Bombay High Court Judge had to write to the Chief Justice that her husband be not posted in Goa. It would be worthwhile to examine how a Bombay High Court Judge was utterly corrupted by Atmaram Nadkarni to the extent that this good Judge was often to be found regularly enjoying the pleasures of life in a special room at a starred hotel, provided at the behest of Atmaram Nadkarni.

Alike the politicians it was a public sponsored Atmaram Nadkarni’s 50th birthday held on November 23rd  2013 at the five starred Taj Fort Aguada at Sinquerim in Goa. The party which had around 400 guests with imported Scotch whisky flowing through the night was estimated to have cost around Rs 20 lakhs with a bill of Rs 14 lakhs for food and alcohol only issued in the name of Calangute de-facto Sarpanch Joseph Sequeira who was in charge of collecting money from all and sundry to foot the bill of Atmaram Nadkarni’s that lavish birthday.  The party was attended by some notorious elements including some of the prime accused in the Goa illegal mining scam.

Also, Atmaram Nadkarni by misusing his position as Advocate General has wined and dined Judges, at State’s expense and on State invitations, to win the close contact and connections with these Honourable Judges.

If a person like Atmaram Nadkarni is allowed to occupy the August chair as Judge of the highest temple of justice in our country, the Supreme Court will be reduced to a den for fixing matters – and become a trader’s paradise.

I hope that Your Excellency will act appropriately in not consenting to the name of Atmaram Nadkarni in view of his sordid and gory background as stated above.

Caroline Kennedy had so very rightly said “The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing”

 

Yours Sincerely,

 

Aires Rodrigues

Advocate High Court

C/G-2, Shopping Complex

Ribandar Retreat,

Ribandar – Goa – 403006

Mobile No: 9822684372

Office Tel  No: (0832) 2444012

Email: airesrodrigues1@gmail.com

                         Or

           airesrodrigues@yahoo.com

You can also reach me on

Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues

Twitter@rodrigues_aires

www.airesrodrigues.in

ATMARAM

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