the goan I network
PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa came down heavily on the manner of constitution of the North and South Goa District Mineral Foundations and has directed that until the Trusts are reconstituted following the statutory norms, their operations be handed by the respective Collectors.
Hearing the petition filed by the Goa Foundation and others, the High Court ruled that the present ‘Foundations’ have no meaning as they are not registered Trusts as is mandatory.
“After series of hearing, at this stage, today, it is brought to our notice that the District Mineral Foundations in the State of Goa are not registered Trusts. This was not informed to us by the State earlier. Such adhoc assemblage put together by the State of Goa, under the banner of District Mineral Foundation, hardly has any legal sanctity. To make the matters worse, the entire corpus of Rs 180 crore is handed over in custody of such assemblage,” the High Court observed.
“It is clear that these randomly put together groups, operating without legal sanctity, cannot be entrusted with the public funds of Rs 180 crore. We direct that the District Collectors of both North and South Goa districts to forthwith take charge of the funds of the District Mineral Foundations in their respective jurisdictions. Till further orders it will be the task of the Collectors of both the Districts to supervise the work of the Mineral Foundations,” the HC ruled.
“Secretaries of the District Mineral Foundations, who are ex-officio members of the State Government, will coordinate with the District Collectors to achieve the objective of the Foundations,” the court said.
Section 9B of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1960 as amended in 2015 made provisions for the State to establish a Trust, as a non-profit body, to be called the District Mineral Foundation “to work for the interest and benefit of persons, areas affected by mining.”
“Even the rules framed by the Government of Goa has contemplated a Trust. For last six months or so when the State has informed us about the constitution of the Foundations and their occasional meetings, it has not informed that the Foundations set up by it are not as per its own rules,” the court observed.
The High Court also took note of the ‘not unwarranted’ arguments made by the Goa Foundation which alleged that the Foundations “have far too much representation from the Mining Industry in the State which is hampering the rehabilitation work.”
“The District Mineral Foundation from its very objective shows that it is set up for a social and charitable purpose. Its role is proactive. Apart from having no legal sanctity, the present group does not inspire confidence that these members have any expertise or drive to achieve the goals of the District Minerals Foundation,” the High Court noted.
