PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has ordered the seizure of property and assets of Swapnil Malik, who was found to be guilty of illegally dredging the river at Sancordem and involved in dredging and extracting pebbles, rocks, stone and boulders illegally from these rivers.The High Court had taken up a public interest litigation suo motu back in 2019 based on newspaper reports that illegal dredging of the river was taking place.
The reports alleged that certain persons were involved in unauthorised dredging at the Zambaulim river and different sites and thereafter entered the Ragada river for the purpose of dredging and extracting pebbles, rocks, stones and boulders illegally from these rivers and transported them to Borcottem, Mollem where, one Govind Gaonkar is alleged to have set up an illegal crusher and washing plant to process the material into sand.
More than 5,000 trip loads of pebbles mixed with sand were transported and are stored and crushed at the site, the report alleged.
On Monday the Advocate General told the High Court that they have found that Malik has a four-wheeler vehicle, a Maruti Swift and two two-wheelers and that these vehicles will be forthwith attached and sold for recovery of at least a portion of the amount due.
Similarly, Arun A Khanolkar, Tahsildar, Dodamarg, District Sindhudurg, Maharashtra who was present in Court stated that necessary steps for the attachment of Malik’s property in Parme village of Dodamarg Taluka, Maharashtra, will be taken within four weeks. He stated that within four weeks he will also make inquiries to find out whether he has any other properties within the jurisdiction of the Collector of Sindhudurg and if so necessary steps would be taken to attach and sell the same.
“The Authorities in the district of Sindhudurg must consider that this is a case where Malik owes the State of Goa an amount of Rs 1,60-crore and that this respondent is prima facie avoiding payment. This payment is due towards the environmental degradation for which this respondent was held responsible. Therefore, it is the duty of the Collector of Sindhudurg to ensure that expeditious steps are taken to attach this respondent's property, sell them and recover this amount in accord with law,” the High Court bench of Justices M S Sonak and R N Laddha ruled.
