Contempt plea in HC over forest dwellers’ rights

Panaji: Goa Foundation has filed a contempt petition in the high court of Bombay at Goa over govt’s failure to determine and settle the rights and claims of members of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and other forest dwellers in protected areas within the one-year time frame given by the HC. The foundation has also opposed govt’s plea for an extension of time to complete the exercise.
On July 24 last year, the HC had disposed of a PIL filed by Goa Foundation directing state govt to notify the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and other contiguous areas as a tiger reserve.Among other directions, the court instructed “to determine and settle the rights and claims of the ST and other forest dwellers following the law as expeditiously as possible and preferably within 12 months...,” ie on or before July 24, 2024.
Out of the 800+ claims, state govt has settled around eight claims between Oct 2023 and July 2024, Goa Foundation has submitted to the HC, while pointing out that govt had failed to comply with the court directions despite the slew of directives issued by state govt to its officers and the assurances given to the court.
It has stated that reasons given by state govt, such as the conduct of elections and an implied shortage of revenue officers-cum-collectors (ROCs), do not pass muster. The foundation submitted to the HC that there are only two ROCs appointed to settle over 800 claims arising in the three protected areas and that they are also deputed elsewhere from time to time.
Though a claim is made that high-level meetings are being held from time to time to ensure compliance with the court’s directions, it is shocking that the outcomes of these meetings are almost zero, Goa Foundation has stated.
The process of settlement of rights has been pending for more than five decades in the case of the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and for more than two decades in the Mhadei and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuaries. Goa Foundation had gone to the HC in 2022 in the backdrop of tragic deaths of four tigers, seeking the constitution of a tiger reserve in the state as recommended by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.