PANAJI
With the Special Leave Petition (SLP) pending before the Supreme Court, the Goa government has decided to file an application before the Bombay High Court at Goa seeking more time to complete the process of declaring and notifying Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as tiger reserve.
The three-month deadline set by the High Court for notifying tiger reserve will end on October 24. Though the State challenged High Court order, dated July 24 before the Supreme Court, the same has not been stayed and its likely to hear the special leave petition only on November 10.
Advocate General Devidas Pangam on Monday held a meeting with the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to decide on the future course of action and it was resolved to seek additional time from the Court.
“The government has decided to file an application seeking additional time from the Court to notify the tiger reserve,” Pangam said.
The Apex Court had on September 25, while admitting the SLP, issued notices to the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Goa Foundation -- the petitioner in the High Court.
Meanwhile, Goa Foundation is contemplating filing a contempt petition against the State for failing to adhere to the three-month deadline set by the High Court.
The High Court, through its much welcomed judgment, had also directed the State to prepare a tiger conservation plan as per the Wildlife Protection Act and submit it to the NTCA within the same time-frame.
Also, the government and the Forest Department were directed to take emergent steps to ensure that there are no encroachments in the protected forest areas like Wildlife Sanctuary and National Parks pending notification of the Tiger Reserve, and even after that.
