From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Aug 2: Goa Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao did not appear before the local court today in connection with the Church case and managed to get relief to appeal against the summons on him before the High Court bench.

Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Panaji, Sarika Faldesai today granted two weeks time for Fr Ferrao to appeal against his summons before the Bombay High court at Goa.

When the matter came up for hearing today, Fr Ferrao moved the application to grant him time to appeal in the High Court. The application was moved through Fr Victor Rodrigues, who is having Power of Attorney of the Archbishop.

The Archbishop is amongst several witnesses including then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane sought to be examined by lawyer Aires Rodrigues, who has been accused of trespassing into the Church property at Ribander, way back in 2004.

The JMFC today fixed the appearance of Archbishop for August 16, if he fails to get reprieve from the High court.

Rodrigues and others were chargesheeted by police for trespassing into the Church property at Ribander in 2004. The activist-cum-lawyer was acquitted by the court but the acquittal was again challenged by the state government before JMFC.

Rodrigues in his defence had claimed that local Church and the priest Fr Newton Rodrigues, who is now posted in Canada, had filed false complaint against him because he was following a case of molestation filed against Fr Rodrigues by mother of a 13 year old girl.

During the hearing today, Rodrigues also moved a contempt against the Church. He claimed that during last Sunday masses, the priest at Ribander Church, Fr Alcantra Rodrigues, had appealed people to rise against the court order summoning Archbishop.

The court has kept the order on the contempt plea for August 9, when other two witnesses including police inspector Sunita Sawant, who filed the revision petition against Rodrigues and social activist, Auda Viegas, would testify in the matter.