PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Wednesday refused to grant ad interim relief to the petitioners seeking a stay on the DefExpo scheduled to be held between March 28 and 31 at Naqueri in South Goa.
On hearing arguments, the division bench comprising Justice F M Reis and K L Wadane rejected the plea for ad-interim relief. The case will be heard March 30.
Two locals, Freddy Fernandes and Irene Lourenco, members of the Orixtt Porjecho Avaz (OPA) which is opposing the DefExpo, had petitioned the High Court seeking a stay on the event.
The locals had contended that they were not aware of the risk involved in hosting the expo and had said the Defence Ministry had refused to give them a detailed project report citing security reasons.
Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni representing the State argued that work on the DefExpo’s infrastructure had begun in January. “The protesters were also given a power point presentation about the project on February 25,” he said.
Advocate Ryan Menezes told the court that the event should be stayed as people are not aware of the details and were not taken into confidence.
OPA members said that though the hearing has been fixed for the last date of the DefExpo, they will hold a peaceful protest at the site
OPA has been protesting since the announcement of the expo and has received support from NGOs and activists across Goa. OPA members are opposing the expo citing various reasons mainly because the government has not taken a NOC from the local body.
