PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Friday restrained the State government from carrying out further road construction work for the ISKCON project at Borim until the final disposal of two public interest litigation writ petitions filed by Deelip Naik and nine others, as well as Abhijit Prabhudessai.
Granting interim relief to the petitioners, the court posted the matter for final hearing in the week commencing from January 8, 2024. All the respondents have been asked to file their affidavits/additional affidavits within eight weeks and rejoinders by the petitioners if any, are to be filed within four weeks from the service of replies.
The petitioners had challenged the construction of 1.5-km road to ISKCON’s landlocked property at Borim by the State government, by spending Rs 2.76 crore. A vedic village, temple and goshala has been proposed in the 32,000 square metres of land.
“Prima facie, doling out of such a largess to a private party may not pass the Constitutional muster,” stated the Court order, further adding that in the present case, at least prima facie, the State’s action seeks to promote the private interests of ISKCON at the cost of the State.
The Court has also asked the PWD not to make payments to the contractor until the final disposal of the petitions. Locals have been up in arms against the project stating that extensive hill cutting will have severe implications on the local environment.
