SUPREME COURT STAYS CONVERSION OF ALL SURVEY NUMBERS IDENTIFIED FINALLY AS FOREST BY THOMAS AND ARAUJO EXPERT COMMITTEES
“We know how forests are being destroyed in Goa,” the Supreme Court (Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan) observed on 3.3.2025 before it went on to pass an order granting interim relief against conversion of any of the 855 sy.Nos. identified finally as forest by the two expert committees headed by V.T.Thomas and Francisco Araujo in their 2018 reports. (Copy of order attached)
Senior Adv. Norma Alvares, assisted by Adv.Om D’Costa, appeared for the Goa Foundation.
This is the second Supreme Court bench that has made strong observations about the destruction of Goa’s natural environment especially its forests.
The Court was concerned about the felling of any trees on the 855 plots/sy.nos in question, and wanted to know where the petitioner had stated in the application that any trees were being cut.
Counsel for petitioner informed the Court that no trees had been cut, but conversion sanads were being issued, which was a prelude to tree felling. She showed the Court the conversion sanad issued to the M/s Bhutani project at Sancoale. The plot was identified as private forest by the expert committee. The Court in fact wanted to know how such conversion sanads could be granted when the Court was seized of the matter in appeal.
The Court thereafter allowed the Goa government to file its counter within 4 weeks, but not before passing its order granting interim relief, that there would be “no further conversion sanad issued in respect of the lands mentioned in prayer clause (a).”
Prayer clause (a) reads: “Pending final disposal of the Civil Appeal, for an order directing status quo to be maintained on all the 855 survey nos (whole or sub-division numbers) that are listed as finally identified and demarcated private forest by the Thomas and Araujo Committees in their reports dated 10.12.2018 and 28.12.2018.”
Background to the order: The state government had appointed two expert committees headed by former foresters V.T. Thomas and Francisco Araujo in the year 2012. These two committees were overnight disbanded in March 2018, but submitted their final reports in December 2018.
Both committees, after field visits and ground demarcation, together identified a total of 8.64 sq km of private forests (855 sy.nos) as “final” in both north and south Goa. The rest of the areas identified were marked “provisional”, awaiting further visits and confirmation. The state Government however insisted that the Review Committee would treat all the plots identified as “provisional”. The Goa Foundation took the matter to the NGT, and thereafter, in appeal, to the apex court. On 3.3.2025, the Supreme Court heard the IA filed by the Goa Foundation for a
status quo order on all sy.nos marked “final” in the two expert reports.
In the main Civil Appeal, which has also been admitted for hearing by the apex court, the Foundation has challenged the order of the NGT rejecting the Goa’s Foundation’s contentions that the Review Committee could not have re-examined the plots identified as “final” by the two expert committees.
The Court has fixed the IA for further consideration after the state government files its response, on March 28, 2025.
Claude Alvares
Goa Foundation