GERARD DE SOUZA
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will resume its hearing of the Goa Mining case on Tuesday, with counsel for the Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) Adv ADN Rao continuing his submissions and arguments before the three-member Bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik.
The case which began daily hearings on Tuesday last week, has already seen Goa Foundation counsel Adv Prashant Bhushan make a strong case for action against the erring mine owners and officials as well as pitching for intergenerational equity as well as environmental carrying capacity of the area and auctioning of leases which, he has said have been illegally renewed.
While the respondents which include the State government, the Central government Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Mines as well as individual lessees, are yet to put forth their arguments before the Court, in their brief submissions during the petitioner’s arguments have indicated that they do not agree with the findings of the Shah Commission report and that further the findings of a Commission cannot be used as evidence in a court of law.
Goa Government counsel Adv Arvind Dutar has also argued that the present government was putting things in order, while admitting that there have been irregularities in the past.
The case has also seen the Goa Mining People’s Front intervening as people affected by the ban and other connected matters which include the petitions filed by the mining companies challenging the State government and Central government imposed bans which have been transferred from the High Court to the Supreme Court to be heard together.
Meanwhile, the petitioners as well as respondents are keeping their fingers crossed with the parties unwilling to make press statements at this stage citing an early stage of the hearings.
The case is being closely followed back in Goa with the hearings being attended by representatives of the GMOEA in the form of Shivanand Salgaocar, Ambar Timblo of the Fomento Mines and other representatives of mining companies and the GMPF such as Christopher Fonseca and Suhaas Naik.
The case will be heard for three days this week starting today.
