The Andhra Pradesh government is contemplating moving either the Supreme Court or the High Court on the stay imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on red sanders auction.
The government has also asked the Advocate-General whether a counter-affidavit should be filed before the NGT, seeking to vacate the stay or if the Supreme Court or the High Court should be approached for quashing the stay. Sources said the government would take a final call on the matter by Monday.
While the Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has permitted the government to auction 8,584 metric tonnes of seized red sanders in log forms in the international market, only 4,160 metric tonnes will be put up for auction in the first phase from October 10 to 17.
Meanwhile, a top official of the Forest Department, who was part of the team that visited China and Japan to conduct pre-bid meetings and road shows, said the response was poor in Tokyo, but it exceeded their expectations in Xianyou and Beijing. “Though we expected 40-50 individuals, 110 people turned up at Xianyou, where 70-80 per cent of Chinese furniture is made,” he added.
According to him, the Chinese authorities were cracking down on illegal trade in red sanders. The official added that the visit had also helped in clearing doubts regarding prospective Chinese buyers of red sanders, with the office of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in Beijing agreeing to allow it in view of the permission received by the Andhra Pradesh government to export the wood.
With the Union government agreeing to extend the time-limit for disposal of red sanders by six months from October 31, he said a notification in this regard by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was expected on Monday or Tuesday. The State government had sought extension of time on the ground that the auction could not be held within the stipulated time owing to elections and State bifurcation.
