Panaji: The State government has filed a miscellaneous civil application before the Goa Bench of Bombay High Court demanding an extension in time to notify areas around Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
Goa’s Advocate General Devidas Pangam told reporters that the application has been filed before the High Court of Bombay at Goa on Friday (October 20), as the deadline set by the court to notify areas around Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve, expires on October 24.
Pangam said that the state government has sought before the court an “extension of the deadline” but has not specified any particular time frame. “We have urged the HC to give an appropriate extension to the state government in notifying the areas as a tiger reserve,” he said.
The Advocate General said that the state will press for the urgent hearing of the application on Monday, October 23, a day ahead of the deadline.
Goa Foundation, a local NGO, had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the Goa government to notify tiger reserves of the state as requested by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The court in its order dated July 24, 2023, had directed the Goa government to notify the areas around Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as the Tiger Reserve within three months.
The Goa government has already filed a petition before the Supreme Court to nullify the order of the HC. The SC in its order on September 25, 2023, had refused to stay the HC order while issuing notices to the respondents including Goa Foundation, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Goa State Board for Wildlife and State Chief Wildlife Warden.
