Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: The Bombay High Court dismissed 5 writ petitions filed by Salgaoncar-owned real estate firms which sought to challenge the report of the Sharma Private Forest Review Committee which had categorized their land as “private forest.”
The order came in response to 5 applications filed by the Goa Foundation in these petitions, reminding the Court of its own orders in the past directing that such matters be filed before the NGT and not before the High Court.
The real estate firms complained in their petitions that they had not been given a hearing in the matter prior to finalization of the report, and therefore, they suffered from violation of the principles of natural justice.
The High Court relied upon its own orders passed in the recent past holding that such petitioners had a right of appeal against the NGT before the Apex Court, and that the Apex Court had already issued notice in some matters where such appeals had been filed.
The Goa Foundation brought to the notice of the High Court that the state government’s appeal against the Sharma Private Forest Review Committee report had already been rejected by the Supreme Court.
