The Bombay High Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by the Lavasa Corporation against the status quo and show-cause notice issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It, however, did not vacate the stay on resumption of construction activities. The matter was adjourned till December 6.
Meanwhile, the National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) has appealed to the court that their petition be clubbed in the matter. “They [the Lavasa Corporation] are answering on a complaint first filed by us, which is included in Para 5 of the show-cause notice served by the Environment Ministry. They should thus make us a party to it,” NAPM's lawyer Y.P. Singh said.
The court will hear the matter on December 6.
The Ministry served the show-cause notice to the Lavasa Corporation on November 25, asking it to give details about the project and stop work till details were furnished. It has been alleged that requisite environmental clearances has not been taken for its 5,000 hectare-project.
The Additional Solicitor-General said in the court that there was a brazen breach of environmental laws by Lavasa. Mr. Singh, however, contested that the project did not need environmental clearance under the Ministry's 2004 notification. “The Ministry's show-cause notice and status quo order is a clear case of appeasing political interests,” he said.
The Additional Solicitor-General corrected the term ‘status quo ante' to ‘status quo' in the show-cause notice. This means that the work will have to halt since the time the notice was served. ‘Status quo ante' would have meant going back to the position of 2004.
