SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: In a major development, the State government on Tuesday assured the High Court of Bombay at Goa to pass orders to recover Rs 3,431 crore from mining companies within a period of four months, based on the demand notices issued to the firms.
Goa Foundation had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in June, seeking directions to the State government to recover Rs 3,431 crore from mining companies on several counts within a time-bound period.
Petitioner Claude Alvares said the government on Tuesday agreed to the demands of the PIL as Advocate General Devidas Pangam told the Court that the amount was recoverable.
“Following the submission by the Advocate General, the High Court bench recorded the undertaking of the Goa government that orders would be passed on all the demand notices issued to mining companies within a period of four months,” Alvares said.
He said that the court recorded that the Director of Mines would first deal with the demand notices issued with regards to recovery of Rs 1,508 crore to mining companies pursuant to the report of the team of Chartered Accountants.
Thereafter, the department would enforce the notices raised pursuant to the 2016 report of the Auditor General (CAG) that pointed out to illegal mining worth Rs 1,922 crore. The total of both reports amounts to Rs 3,431.31 crore.
The demand notices on the report of the team of CAs were issued in 2016, while in the case of the CAG report it was issued in 2017. These notices were produced by the Goa government to prove its bona fides during the hearing of the writ petition filed by Goa Foundation challenging the grant of 88 mining leases.
“There does not appear to be any movement in the direction of recovery of these amounts pursuant to the demand notices. Petitioners were shocked to know that despite the fact that an amount of Rs 3,431.31 crore is due to the Government of Goa as per its own officers’ research and the research of the CAG, recovery actually is only to the extent of Rs 3.99 crore,” the PIL stated.
The Goa Foundation had submitted that the State is in dire financial straits and several social security schemes for citizens in need, for example, widows, aged persons, etc, have come to a grinding halt in the past couple of months.
“The Government of Goa is regularly issuing security bonds for raising money for salaries. It goes without saying that if the sum of Rs 3,431.31 crore is recovered, many of the financial problems facing the government would find relief,” the petitioner stated.
“Instead, the Goa government is getting ready to raid the funds of each of the District Mineral Foundations for removal of approximately Rs 60 crore. Besides being illegal, the move is hardly justified when dues from mining companies amount to Rs 3431.31 crore and are awaiting recovery from 2016,” it added.
