PANJIM: The NGO Goa Foundation on Monday filed a contempt petition alleging that the State government did not implement the Bombay High Court at Goa order to notify the area around the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as Tiger Reserve.
The matter will come before the division bench on Wednesday, November 1. Incidentally, the Goa government had also filed a plea in the High Court to extend the deadline of three months to notify the Tiger Reserve.
The Goa Foundation through a miscellaneous civil application has brought to the notice of the High Court that the Tiger Reserve has not been notified by the Goa government even after the expiry of three month time given to the government by the Court in its dated July 24, 2023. But the deadline expired on October 24.
On September 25, the Supreme Court of India declined to grant interim stay to the impugned judgment while hearing a special leave petition filed by the Goa government.
The State government had sought interim relief on the grounds that if the operation of the judgement was not stayed, the State would be compelled to notify the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and other areas as a Tiger Reserve. However, the Apex Court only issued notices to all the respondents.
The petitioner, Claude Alvares, Secretary of Goa Foundation, has stated in his petition that not notifying the Tiger Reserve as directed by the High Court was a blatant disregard of the Court’s directions. He has further stated that he had learnt from media reports that an application for extension of time has been filed by the State government, when the fact remains that no extension of time was obtained by the State prior to the expiry of the three months deadline.
“These circumstances paint a very unfortunate picture of the State of Goa being a recalcitrant litigant in as far as this Court’s judgement dated July 24, 2023 is concerned,”Alvares stated.
“Once the Supreme Court declined to stay the judgement in its order dated September 25, the State government was bound to comply with the direction of this Court to notify a Tiger Reserve within three months,” he added.
