Bombay HC strikes down MoEF's notification to transfer Goa's NGT cases from Pune to New Delhi

A couple of days ago Justice G.S. Patel passed a judgement striking down the Ministry of Environment and Forests' (MoEF) notification that transferred Goa's National Green Tribunal (NGT) cases from Pune to New Delhi.

Numerous cases have been filed in the NGT in Pune against various environmental violations regarding permissions granted for unscrupulous builders. Some have been dismissed as frivolous. But a good majority of them have been filed by concerned citizens who do not want to see the Goa of old fall by the side in the face of unsustainable construction and cutting down of tree cover.

It is being said that the cases were transferred to New Delhi to make it difficult for the common man to travel there often, as would be required with the numerous adjournments, and thus dissuade them from following up on the cases.

An extract from the judgement of Justice G.S Patel has been doing the rounds on facebook and whatsapp and it is being hailed as one of the most well written pieces to describe Goa in a while.

"This (Goa) is an extraordinary state, in more ways than one, a place where, perhaps more than anywhere else, sky, sea and earth meet. From horizon to horizon, it is a land of abundant richness. It is a land of confluences, where diverse strands meet and co-exist; and, in a time of apparently incessant strife and discord, it is still a mostly liberal land. It is a kind and gentle land, of a kind and gentle people. And it is also a land that, given its small size and small population, has had a wholly disproportionate influence on our art, culture, language, music, literature, architecture, history, design and more (even food, for many of what we consider our staples first came from here). Its greatest asset is one: its environment and its ecology — its rivers and riverbanks, its beaches, its lakes and clear streams, its dense forests, its low hills and fertile fields, its boulders and even trees shrouded with moss and vines and lichen in the rains, its ridiculously brilliant sunsets.

One needs only to turn off an arterial road to either east or west to see all this first-hand, and all of it within but a few minutes. If the NGT in Pune has so very many cases from Goa, it is not because — or not just because — the people of Goa are litigious; if true, that may only speak to their continued faith in the legal system and its processes. It is because they perceive that there is something of value here to protect. Few are frivolous causes; in the past few weeks, we saw none. Many, and perhaps most, are of very serious concern, raising vital questions of both public law and environmental governance.

To be sure, the government has before it a delicate balancing task of safe-guarding the environment and providing for development. What is important, however, is that a cause must be brought for an issue to be addressed. In our experience, one that none can deny, we have seen a very large number of worthy causes.

Our duty, and that of every government too, must be to ensure that these attempts to protect the environment can be brought to a forum that is close at hand, where environmental issues can be addressed quickly, without having to travel inordinate distances, and at a cost that the poorest in the land, not just the well-heeled, can afford. These are, after all, struggles for a better tomorrow. This or that particular cause may be lost. But no cause should be allowed to be lost for want of trying. For that, we have those who petition us. Equally certainly, no cause should be allowed to be lost for want of a court. That is up to us, and to the government.

For this is something none can deny: this is a land truly worth fighting for."

There is of course, the unfortunate news doing the rounds that the Goa government will proceed to take this matter up in the Supreme Court to appeal against the High Court ruling. If true, this would raise the question as to why is the government so hell-bent upon making sure the cases are heard in Delhi and ensure that it would be all the more difficult for the citizens, of whom it is an elected representative, to make their cases heard.

One only hopes that the MoEF and the State Government pay heed to the High court suggestions wherein it spoke highly of the Senior Counsel in the Goa Bar and about the junior Bar too and also recommended taking up the proposal to establish a circuit bench in Goa.