TUESDAY, JULY 09, 2024
Team Herald
The Goa Government has taken its dispute with the High Court of Bombay at Goa to the Supreme Court, contesting the High Court's directive to declare the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve within a three-month timeframe. To argue its case in the Special Leave Petition (SLP), the government has enlisted the services of senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi.
The High Court, in its ruling issued on July 24, mandated that the Goa Government must make this declaration within three months. Additionally, the court ordered the government to formulate a comprehensive tiger conservation plan during the same period.
Reacting swiftly to the High Court's decision, Goa's Forest Minister, Vishwajit Rane, expressed concern over the potential adverse consequences of implementing the order and pledged that the government would immediately seek relief from the Supreme Court to have the High Court's ruling overturned. Rane emphasized that the judgment could pose significant challenges for the people of Sattari and asserted that the government was determined to overturn it at any cost.
The division bench of Justices Mahesh Sonak and Bharat Deshpande, in their judgment, underscored the need to prioritize national interests over regional, parochial, and narrow political considerations at the state level when it came to conserving and safeguarding the tiger and its habitat. This verdict followed the State Government's prior rejection of a proposal to designate the area as a tiger reserve.
