News Articles
Govt will issue stop order on Keri SEZ if required, HC told
BY HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, DEC 12 â Advocate General Subodh Kantak today told the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court that the State government, if required, would issue a written âstop workâ order to Meditab Specialities Pvt Ltd for its Pharma SEZ in Keri.
The AG made the statement when the writ petition filed by Meditab challenging the decision of the government asking it to stop work at the SEZ site came up for hearing today.
In the petition, the company has submitted before the court that contrary to chief minister Digamber Kamatâs statement last week (that Meditab has voluntarily stopped work), they have not stopped work on their own but were forced to do so by the Ponda deputy collector and PI and that they desire to continue the work as they are duly authorized to do so.
They have alleged that the Chief Secretary J P Singh on December 8 instead of supporting them, orally instructed them to stop work in a high handed manner and threatened that if they didnât, the police would not protect their workers and machinery.
According to the petition, CSâs instruction came to them when their officials called on him to apprise him of the situation when a mob of people had entered their property and tried to vandalise it on December 7. No formal order to stop work was issued to them, the petition noted.
The petitioner wanted to know whether the state government is entitled to stop their work and whether the state government can refuse police protection to them for conducting its activities after they have got all necessary permissions and is duly legal.
Meditab was allotted 12.32 lakh sq mts land by GIDC on April 28, 2006 during the Rane government and a year later, on April 10, 2007, the Development Commissioner, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI notified the area as SEZ for pharmaceutical industries. It started work in May 2007 on which crores of rupees have been incurred, it claimed.
The state of Goa through the Chief Secretary, Secretary (Home), GSPCB, GIDC, Ponda Deputy Collector and Ponda PI are named as respondents in the petition.
Cipla, the parent organization, which has been allotted two plots by Meditab, has also moved a separate petition. Both the petitions will be taken up later this month.
