A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices VM Kanade and MS Karnik on Friday agreed to hear on April 20 a matter relating to illegal constructions by Goa BJP vice-president Anil Hoble.
These structures include Mr Hoble’s river lounge bar and restaurant along the Ribandar-Panaji causeway in north Goa.
The court directive came after lawyer-activist Aires Rodrigues submitted before the court that Mr Hoble had fraudulently obtained a stay order from the High Court in Mumbai instead of moving the Bombay High Court in Goa. The court directed that the matter be listed High on Board.
After the National Green Tribunal (NGT) dismissed his review petition on December 15 last year against an order directing the demolition of the illegal structures, Mr Hoble moved the Bombay High Court in Mumbai and obtained an ex parte stay.
The NGT, while ordering the demolition, held that Mr Hoble had violated various provisions of the environmental law and directed him to pay a fine of Rs 20 lakh for destroying mangroves and doing illegal land filling.
Earlier, Mr Hoble had filed a petition before the Bombay High Court in Goa seeking a stay of the NGT order, which was dismissed. Mr Rodrigues, who was allowed by the High Court to intervene in the matter, opposed Mr Hoble’s petition as not maintainable and misconceived.
While Mr Rodrigues drew the court’s attention that under Section 22 of the NGT Act, an appeal against an NGT order would only made before the Supreme Court and not the High Court, Mr Hoble argued that he was poor and could not afford to move the Supreme Court.
However, Mr Rodrigues, disputing Mr Hoble’s claim, had submitted to the High Court the registration details of a Mercedes Benz owned by Mr Hoble.
He also argued that Mr Hoble misused his political power in usurping community land by filling fields and destroying mangroves around the Ribandar-Merces area in north Goa.
