Team Herald

PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday ruled out the possibility of establishing a circuit bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Goa, even as the High Court of Bombay at Goa has stressed upon the same.

The High Court, while passing its judgment in a suo motu public interest litigation regarding the transfer of Goa cases from NGT’s Pune bench to New Delhi, had asked the government to consider establishing a circuit bench of the tribunal in Goa.

“Personally, I am not in favour of setting up a circuit bench of NGT in Goa. It is not possible,” Parrikar said adding, “It is not an easy task.”

The Chief Minister said the government has made its stand clear that Pune was ‘proving to be logistically inconvenient and a significant financial strain on the public exchequer’. “I still stand by it. Pune is not convenient at all,” he said.

Parrikar, however, refused to comment on whether the government would challenge the High Court decision that stayed the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) decision to transfer Goa cases from the NGT Pune bench to New Delhi.

The government has already informed the Court that currently there is no space available, either at the old district court building or at the Spaces building at Patto to house a circuit bench of the NGT. The existing courtrooms from the Velho Filho building will be relocated to the district court while all seven floors of the Spaces building are occupied, the government had stated.

The government had proposed to shift the territorial jurisdiction in respect of Goa to New Delhi primarily because New Delhi is better connected to Goa via air and has well set up legal team.