'Marriott hotel case has restored people’s faith in the rule of law' Devika Sequeira devikaseque...@gmail.com TNN | Jul 5, 2015, 02.59 AM IST
----------------------------------------------------------- The writ petition in the Marriott hotel case was filed in 1993 and interim relief rejected in 1994. So in effect this case has gone on for 22 years. How does this reflect on the process of legal remedy and justice in this country? ----------------------------------------------------------- Very poorly indeed. If the (NGO) Goa Foundation had known that it would have taken 22 years to get a judgment in a CRZ case, it is doubtful we would have approached the high court at all. It is not that the Foundation was not on time when filing the petition. We approached the high court when the Gaspar Dias beach was still in existence. There was no construction -- a small plinth had just commenced. Only the entire grove of casuarina trees had been felled, which is what alerted the public and caused the citizens of Miramar and Dona Paula to protest with the captain of ports department. Even the governor of Goa, in an unprecedented move, protested the use of the beach for the hotel. Today, 22 years later, the high court rules that we were right all along. But now, a monstrous construction occupies the once pristine beach and it remains to be seen how much of the beach will be restored to the public after the extent of illegal construction is identified by the town and country planning (TCP) department. So the destruction has happened which could easily have been prevented had the court either heard and decided the petition in 1993 itself, or had stayed the construction work until the court could decide the issue. Under the guise of ensuring that no injustice was done to the company, the state's environment was the loser. Even now the matter is perhaps not finally concluded. If the Marriot/the Salgaocars appeal the judgment, it may take another 10 years before the Gaspar Dias beach is restored to the public, which was the reason why we moved the court in the first place. ----------------------------------------------------------- This is among several major hotel projects where the Goa government played a proactive role in facilitating and acquiring land for private players (Salgaocars in this case). Was it a coincidence that some of these were mining entities? ----------------------------------------------------------- I do not think all hotel projects in Goa are connected with mining companies though Cidade de Goa and Marriott (earlier called Palm Hotels) are owned by people who are also into mining. But even other cases of hotels violating the CRZ have always been assured of close collaboration and support from the Goa government. The Goa government has never believed in the CRZ notification, which is why, in almost all cases, the government's performance in court has been extremely pitiable and shabby. In the case of the Aldeia petition (Grand Hyatt) all files in the custody of the government disappeared with the connivance of the hotel authorities. Justice R K Bhatta already 10 years ago had opined "that the corruption in the government was so rampant that one had to presume mala fides behind every government action". The apex court has come down quite heavily on government officials who collude in facilitating illegalities. But rarely is action taken against such people. Except for the apex court, high courts rarely take action against corrupt government officials even when there is evidence brought before them. We expect the high court to punish government officers who collude with private parties against public interest so that a message goes to the administration that such collusive behaviour in violation of statutory laws will not be tolerated. Even the former chief minister Manohar Parrikar had openly stated that if the government had to take action against town and country planning department officials for corruption, they would have to arrest all the town planners. We do not know what the citizens of Goa have done to be punished with an entire army of corrupt individuals. If the corruption only led to the redistribution of income, we would not object. But in all such cases, the acts of corruption have destroyed the natural environment of Goa, something which is irreversible and for which our only hope lies in the judicial system, which unfortunately also lets us down, even when it rules in our favour. ----------------------------------------------------------- What do you take away from the Marriott case? This is after all one of the many cases Goa Foundation has taken up against big-ticket CRZ violations? ----------------------------------------------------------- The judgment in the Marriott case is restoration of people's faith in the rule of law. When there are judges of integrity who go by the rule of law, justice will prevail as in the Marriott case. We wanted the beach back for the public. This is what we will get as a result of the judgment even after the Supreme Court hears us. Of this I am confident, because this is what exactly happened in the Cidade de Goa case as well, where the Supreme Court, even at interim stage, insisted on keeping access to the beach open for the public. ----------------------------------------------------------- The criticism levelled against environmental action groups like yours is that you're selective in your targets and are anti-development. Some have even gone so far as to call you anti-national... ----------------------------------------------------------- We do not worry about negative labels because we know that these labels are used by people who are affected by the orders passed by the courts. These institutions are protectors of the Constitution. If they pass orders, after considering the facts before them, in our favour, then one has to assume that they are also acting against the national interest, which is absurd. In the case of CRZ, the entire state of Goa knows that we have filed cases against every hotelier who put up resorts in violation of law since 1986. ----------------------------------------------------------- The Goa CM says he is confident mining will resume by this September. Is he being overly optimistic? What is the ground reality? ----------------------------------------------------------- Forget about ground reality, the international price of iron ore is so low that the mining companies would be doing charity by taking it out of the ground. If there is anything the mining companies have shown us over the last three years when they had to shut down is that they are bereft of values of compassion, charity or welfare. Forget about Goa generally, they forsook even the workers, the truck drivers and the barges. If there were any capacity to do charity, it would have manifested itself in the last three years. All these actions that are being taken today presumably to commence mining operations are only to deal with enforcement directorate investigations, income tax notices, complaints from shareholders, etc, and not because they are interested in resuming mining in the state. Sesa Sterlite has discharged most of its employees through VRS after getting its leases renewed in January 2015. Contact the writer: devikaseque...@gmail.com First published in the Times of India