the goan I network
PANAJI
The State Government on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court at Goa that it was in favour of having a circuit bench of the National Green Tribunal in the State even as it sought time to file detailed affidavit in reply to the suo motu writ petition taken up by the Bombay High Court at Goa as well as four other separate petitions against the government's decision to bring Goa under the jurisdiction of the National Green Tribunal principal bench which is
in Delhi.
The matter was taken up on Tuesday and adjourned after the government's submissions to next week.
The court has questioned the government's dual stance on the issue even as it has kept the matter for further hearing to hear the government's detailed reply.
The Bombay High Court at Goa had taken cognizance of the government's decision to inexplicably change Goa's jurisdiction bringing it under the ambit of the principal bench in New Delhi.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that it was the State that had written to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) for transferring Goa related environmental cases from Pune to Delhi and not a unilateral decision by the MoEFCC.
He justified the decision saying that Goa is a small state and that the government cannot maintain legal set up in Pune.
