Team Herald
PANJIM: Raising strong objections, social activists across the State have demanded for a bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Goa instead of the existing bench in Pune.
“NGT is not set for the government of Goa but for the people who are concerned about the environment. The petitioners do not have the money to travel to Delhi for the hearing and then spending on lawyers and hotels,” Goa Foundation’s Claude Alvares said, objecting to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement that the State had written to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest to shift Goa cases from Pune to Delhi
“In fact we at Goa Foundation have also written to the Chairman of NGT to set up a bench in Goa which will immensely benefit the people and in turn save a lot on the cost incurred,” Alvares said.
Activist Kashinath Shetye, who himself defends cases before the NGT, said the MoEF, in collusion with the State, has shown malafide intention to deny Goans access to the NGT, since the ordinary Goan cannot afford the cost and the time needed to approach NGT, Delhi.
“When as per NGT Act 2010 the original Notification of MoEF dated 11-08-2011 provided Goa Jurisdiction under Western Regional NGT Bench at Pune and now suddenly a modification of Notification by MoEF dated 10-08-2017 placing Goa under Northern Regional/Principal NGT Bench at Delhi without hearing and without notice to affected parties is arbitrary, unjust and illegal. The access should be easy for the people” Shetye said.
Rubbishing the Chief Minister’s claim that the Goa government does not have a legal set up in Pune, Advocate Aires Rodrigues stated that the proceedings at NGT Pune have been running smoothly all these years.
“The thrust of the Supreme Court is to bring the wheels of justice closer and more accessible to the public, I accuse the government of taking this very high-handed decision and of burdening the people of Goa to travel all the way to Delhi for seeking justice in NGT related matters,” Rodrigues said.
Alleging that this very devious decision to transfer Goa related NGT cases from Pune to Delhi was with ulterior motives, Rodrigues said this move being anti-people has to be fought as it was a clear attempt to deny justice to the common man by allowing the State to ignore or even partake in environmental violations.
“Instead of bringing justice to the doorstep, this is clearly a ploy to keep temples of justice out of reach,” Rodrigues said.
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it IS unjustified: Vasco activists
VASCO: Expressing serious concerns over the recent stand taken by the State government, activists from Vasco claimed that State government’s request to shift environmental cases being heard by National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Pune bench to Delhi is unjustifiable, both constitutionally and geographically.
Vasco-based environmental activist Savio J F Correia said that shifting Goa environmental cases to Delhi defeats the very purpose of setting-up the specialised environmental court. The obvious motive was to inconvenience citizens approaching NGT to protect Goa’s environment and identity. If the so-called absence of legal set up in Pune was the ground, then, the government ought to have pushed for establishment of a circuit bench at Goa.
Media coordinator for citizens group, Goa Against Coal Edwin Mascrenhas said green tribunals are established to ensure that the doors of justice are available to common man at the shortest possible distance, and at affordable cost.
It is the duty of the government to set up a mechanism to attend to these matters at the existing location. “Shifting the tribunal 1500 kms away, will only incur unnecessary costs by way of time and money, both for litigants and government. The CM’s statement has no logic and is just an excuse to justify the harassment meted out to the aggrieved citizens,” he added.
