A month ago the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had assured the state that no new casino vessel will be allowed to be moored in the Mandovi river. A PIL was filed by Justice Rebello of the Enough is Enough NGO to stop the proliferation of floating casinos, but not surprisingly the Advocate General of Goa has now revealed in court that mooring permission had already been granted to the 2,000- capacity ship a few years ago. In fact the government and the company represented by one of the most prominent legal eagles have blamed the EIE stating that the petitioners filed the case late knowing the vessel had already set sail for Goa. The concessionaire's advocate submitted that Rs 400 crore had already been spent on the vessel and that no interim relief be granted to the petitioners, also he pleaded that the 'malafide' PIL should be dismissed. As a fig leaf the AG representing the Goa government mentioned that the casino will be allowed to operate only after further statutory permissions are secured by the company. The CM's lies have been exposed by his own AG and Goa is going to pay a heavy social, economic and environmental price for the tactics of the state government.
