The Panaji Chief Judicial Magistrate Pooja Kavlekar has directed Panaji Police to submit a report whether the bureaucrats who allowed the Grape Escapade 2017 to go ahead despite an order from the National Green Tribunal against it.
the goan I networkrPANAJIrr“I deem it fit to call a report from the concerned police station on the aspect of whether there has been a failure on the part of any of the accused to comply with the orders of the tribunal. The PI shall also investigate into the aspects of whether there has been in violation of the provisions of Environment Protection Act and relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code,” Kavlekar said in her order passed recently. rThe order was passed in a case filed by Kashinath Shetye who alleged that several bureaucrats including the Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma and others, wilfully disobeyed the orders of NGT and that criminal proceedings be initiated against them. However, the CJM ruled that since all those accused who are arraigned in the case are officers acting in official capacity, it needs to be examined under what circumstances, they may have acted before indicting them. r“The police shall also examine the aspects of cognizability of the offence in the absence of a 60 days notice and further, the requirement of necessary sanction for prosecution,” the Magistrate ruled.
