Text of Transfer Petition of 500 crore defamation suit at Supreme Court of India

The below is a copy of Transfer petition filed before the Supreme Court of India and came up before Justices Dalbeer Bhandari and B S Chauhan on September 11, 2009. They refused to transfer the case filed against Sebastian Rodrigues from Goa by Fomento mining company from Goa at Calcutta High Court in December 2008 to a competent court at Goa. This petition is made public for the reasons of public debate and further the cause of Freedom of Speech and Expression guaranteed under article 19 of the Constitution of India as well as Article 19 of Universal declaration of Human Rights.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
TRANSFER PETITION (CIVIL) NO. OF 2009
IN THE MATTER OF:
SEBASTIAN alias SEBI Rodigues, resident of H.No.31/A, Igrez Vaddo, Marna, Siolim, Bardez,Goa. 403517.
Petitioner
VERSUS
SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL PVT. LTD., a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 having its Registered Office at Vila Flores da Silva, Erasmo Carvalho Street, Margao-Goa, 403

Respondent

With
I.A.No. /2009: Application for Stay

PAPER-BOOK

FOR INDEX: PLEASE SEE INSIDE

ADVOCATE FOR THE PETITIONER: ANITHA SHENOYINDEX
S.No.
Particulars
Pages
1.
Listing Performa
A1 – A2
2.
Check List
A-3 – A4
3.
List of dates/Synopsis

4.
Transfer Petition with Affidavit

5.
Annexure P-1: A true copy of the plaint in the Civil Suit No. 265 of 2008 filed before the Calcutta High Court undated

6.
Annexure P-2: A true copy of the interim application (GA No. 4142 of 2008) filed before the before the Calcutta High Court undated

7.
Annexure P-3: Typed copies of the posts on www.mandgoa.blogspot.com, a blog, annexed with the plaint.

8.
Annexure P-4: A copy of the order passed by the Calcutta High Court dated 24-12-2008.

9.
Annexure P-5: A copy of the order dated 12-1-2009 of the Calcutta High Court.

10
I.A.No. /2009: Application seeking stay of the proceedings in the Civil Suit no. 265 of 2008 at the Calcutta High Court.

SYNOPSIS AND LIST OF DATES
This petition seeks transfer of C.S. No. 265 of 2008, pending before the Calcutta High Court, seeking damages to the tune of Rs. 500 crores for alleged defamation by the petitioner. The respondent company has filed the above suit before Calcutta High Court despite the fact that the respondent as well as the petitioner herein is based in Goa and the subject matter of the suit pertains to matters arising out activities in Goa.
The respondent, M/S Sociedade De Fomento Industrial Pvt. Ltd, a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956, has its registered office at Goa, and has been in the mining business in the same state. According to the plaint filed in the above suit, the plaintiff, the respondent herein, is one of the largest industrial houses in the state of Goa.
The petitioner is a reputed social activist and is involved in making the matter of illegal/ unsustainable mining, a priority issue for the people of the state, including for the state government and the numerous interest groups in the state of Goa. He has been associated with a voluntary organisation called “Nature, Environment, Society and transformations (NEST)” founded by Dr. Bikram Dasgupta of the Department of Chemistry, Goa University, since 2002. He is also associated with Gawda, Kunbi, Velip, and Dhangar Federation (GAKUVED), a registered organisation since 1980, and is working as the Co-ordinator of its research and publication unit called ‘MAND, An Adivasi Resource Centre’. In this capacity, the petitioner also maintains a Blog, www.mandgoa.blogspot.com, on behalf of the GAKUVED. Some of the posts on the said Blog are subject matter of the present suit.
GAKUVED Federation is one of the leading social organisations of the tribal communities of Goa. The Federation has been active in taking up issues pertaining to the life and livelihood of the local tribal communities of the state of Goa. The Federation has been active in highlighting the deleterious impact of illegal/ unsustainable mining, mega tourism, highly polluting industrial projects, and the resultant ecological and environmental disasters that have had serious adverse effects on the lives of the people of Goa. It has been part of the public campaigns against these problems, which are a cause of concern for all the people of Goa.
The GAKUVED Federation came into existence in 1980, in the context of a long history of tribal struggle for getting their tribes listed as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution. The GAKUVED Federation succeeded in getting Schedule Tribe status for Kunbi, Gawda, and Velip tribes when the Parliament passed the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Bill 2000, on 7th January 2001, and the President of India assented to it on 8th January 2001. The GAKUVED Federation continues to demand full implementation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Act 2001. Centrality of the GAKUVED Federation to the movement for getting Scheduled Tribe status for the Gawda, Kunbi and Velip tribes can be gauged from the fact that the campaign is usually referred to as the GAKUVED movement.
The Blog run by the petitioner on behalf of the GAKUVED Federation reports on various livelihood issues pertinent to the state of affairs in Goa. The themes on the Blog include the agrarian crisis, illegal/ unsustainable mining, destruction of beaches and of the ecology and environment of the state in general, and the illegal and criminal nexuses that permit activities harmful to the general public to continue despite widespread resentment and protest, etc. The Blog also reports on all other issues of public interest in Goa, such as culture, education, forest rights, lakes, land, laws, rivers, wild life sanctuaries, water, women, etc.
Reports on the commission of illegalities, destruction of environment and livelihood of affected villagers by the respondent are also part of the themes on the Blog. Thus, the reports on the Blog are not merely focussed on the respondent and its activities. The activities of the respondent find mention in the course of documenting the devastation wrought by mining in Goa, and in the recording of ongoing struggles against illegal and/ or harmful mining, including against some mines operated by the respondent,.
Such reports cannot be dubbed defamatory by any yardstick. Many civil society groups in Goa, notably the Goa Foundation, have been for many years documenting the environmental destruction wrought by the mining industry in Goa. It is pertinent to mention that in its recent book ‘Sweet Land of Mine’, the Goa Foundation has again exposed the depredation wrought by illegal and/ unsustainable mining in the state. The book exposes the wounds on the Western Ghats, even in government designated wildlife sanctuaries, inflicted by callous open cast mining. It also documents the consequent depletion of the water table, the irreversible contamination of water bodies, and the pollution of fields; all affecting thousands of villagers in interior Goa.
As is patent, the issue of illegal mining in the state of Goa is a great source of concern for the affected communities. Many villagers and civil society organisations have been protesting against the environmental devastation and destruction of rural and tribal communities of the state. The fact has also been underscored by many studies carried out by many reputed experts. The severity of the problem has been acknowledged by the state government at the floor of the assembly. As per the reports published in the newspapers, e.g. The Times of India, dated February 7, 2009, the Forest minister of the state, Filipe Neri Rodrigues, has also admitted that many cases of illegalities in mines and mining activity appeared to have been hushed up due to political pressure. Admitting corruption in both the mines and forest departments he regretted that the forest officials release wheel-loaders and other machinery within hours, after compounding the offences in cases of illegal mining. He also mentioned a violation of a court order stopping the extraction of ore in the Quepem taluka. He regretted that the forest department did not refer the violation to the court. Besides other offences, this failure amounted to abetting contempt of the court’s directive.
The respondent operates two mines- one at Colomba Village of Sanguem Taluka and another at Advalpal of Taluka Bicholim in the state of Goa. Local communities have been protesting against malpractices of the respondent by organizing public protests, memoranda to concerned authorities, as well as petitions before the court. The environmental damage caused by the respondent’s mines, and its impact on the livelihood of affected local communities is well documented and reported. The petitioner, through the Blog of his organisation, has been giving voice to these facts, and to the protests against them.
Be that as it may, the petitioner herein is prepared to defend any charges that may be leveled against him. However, it is submitted that the respondent has filed the above suit before the Calcutta High Court malafide, with the intention to harass the petitioner so that he and his organization may be forced to abandon the legitimate expression of protest against the illegal activities of the respondent in the state of Goa. The respondent company is part of one of the biggest industrial groups of the state of Goa, it has financial resources to prosecute the above suit at Calcutta High Court. The petitioner and his organization are of modest means, and they do not have the capacity to defend the suit at Calcutta, which is quite far away from the state of Goa, the state of his residence. In the circumstances, continuance of the above said suit at Calcutta High Court is against the interest of justice.
LIST OF DATES
1)
December 2008
The respondent filed a suit, being Civil Suit No. 265 of 2008 in the Calcutta High Court seeking a permanent injunction in favour of the respondent and against the petitioner restraining the defendant from publishing alleged defamatory in the said Blog of GAKVED and claiming a sum of Rs. 500 crores as damages for alleged defamation. The respondent also moved an application seeking interim directions. As the copy of the plaint as well as the application supplied to him does not have any date on it, no date is mentioned as the date of filing of the suit is not available.
The respondent herein also filed an application seeking ad interim injunction.
The suit annexed some selected ‘posts’ on the said Blog.
2)
24-12-2008
The court passed an ex parte interim order restraining the petitioner herein from “re-publishing the same articles and/or stories and/or news items and or any other write ups of any kind containing defamatory statements and/or remarks against the petitioner (the respondent herein) or its group companies in and officers in any blog/website through electronic or printing media or by any other publication,” till January 15, 2009.
3)
12-1-2009
The suit of the respondent was listed again. The court passed an order directing the petitioner to file an affidavit-in-opposition within three weeks, and directed the matter to be listed in six weeks hence. The court also extended the interim order for a further period of 10 weeks.
4)

Present Transfer petition before this Hon’ble court.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
Transfer Petition (Civil) No.................... of 2009
In the matter of:
SEBASTIAN alias SEBI Rodigues, 35 years of age, resident of H.No.31/A, Igrez Vaddo, Marna, Siolim, Bardez, Goa. 403517.
Petitioner
VERSUS
SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL PVT. LTD., a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 having its Registered Office at Vila Flores da Silva, Erasmo Carvalho Street, Margao-Goa, 403
Respondent


PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 139-A (2) OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA R/W SECTION 25 OF THE CIVIL PROCEDURE CODE, 1908
To
Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India and His Companion Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
The petitioner most respectfully showeth:
1. This petition seeks transfer of C.S. No. 265 of 2008, pending before the Calcutta High Court seeking damages to the tune of Rs. 500 crores for alleged defamation by the petitioner. The respondent company has filed the above suit before Calcutta High Court despite the fact that the respondent as well as the petitioner herein are based in Goa and the subject matter of the suit pertain to the matters arising out of the activities undertaken in Goa.
2. The petitioner is a social activist. He is associated with many public causes in the state of Goa. He is concerned about the state of affairs in society. Since 2001 he has been visiting mining areas in Goa and various other parts of India to understand the impact of illegal mining on the people living in India’s mining regions. Since 2002 he has been volunteering his time for a voluntary organisation called “Nature, Environment, Society and transformations (NEST)” founded by Dr. Bikram Dasgupta of Department of Chemistry, Goa University. Since 2004 he has been associated with tribal organisation in Goa called “Gawda, Kunbi, Velip and Dhangar Federation (GAKUVED)” a registered organisation since 1980. In 2007 GAKUVED initiated its research and publication unit known as “Mand”. It has collaboration with Bindrai Institute of Research, Study and Action (BIRSA), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Centre of Studies of Developing Societies (CSDS-Lokniti), New Delhi, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra, Mumbai, and many other voluntary organisations. The petitioner is working as coordinator of ‘Mand’.
3. The Blog, www.mandgoa.blogspot.com, belongs to GAKUVED and not to individually to the petitioner. This is clearly specified in the Blog itself. A few posts on the said Blog have been made subject matter of the suit filed by the respondent before the Calcutta High Court.
4. GAKUVED Federation is one of the leading social organisations of the tribal communities of Goa. The Federation is actively pursing issues pertaining to the life of local tribal communities of the state of Goa. The organisation came into existence in 1980 in the backdrop of a long history of tribal struggle for getting their tribes included in the Schedule to the Constitution for the purposes of reservation. They succeeded in this campaign with the passing of the ‘Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Bill 2000’ on 7th January 2001. The GAKUVED movement continues to be active, demanding full implementation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Amendment) Act 2001, and on other issues.
5. The issues of illegal mining, mega tourism and industrial projects and resultant environmental disasters are a cause of concern of the Federation as they directly impact livelihood of the local communities. Mining has destroyed agriculture and life support in Sattari, Quepem, Bicholim and Sanghem Talukas of the state. Encroachment and silting of agricultural land and depletion of ground water by the mining companies are the major reasons for these environmental disasters. The depletion of ground water in these talukas has been such that there is tremendous water shortage even for the drinking purpose. Ruthless bulldozing of forests has played havoc with tribal dwellings in Colamb and Sanghem. The health of these communities has also suffered due to dust pollution caused due to mining and incidence of various lung diseases such as Bronchitis and Tuberculosis is very high in these communities. Consequently, local communities are protesting against illegal mining activities in their areas. The Federation has been offering solidarity to the struggling local communities in their struggle.
6. The respondent is a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 having his Rigistered Office at Villa Flores da Silva, Erasmo Carvalho Street, Margao – Goa – 403 601. It is one of the largest industrial houses in Goa. The respondent operates various mines, including one at Colomba Village of Sanguem Taluka and Advalpal of Taluka Bicholim in the state of Goa. Mining activities of the respondent in the above villages has been a subject of protest by the local communities. Besides organizing public protests, the local communities have also brought malpractices of the respondent in the notice of concerned authorities and courts. The environmental damage caused by the respondent and its impact on the livelihood of affected local communities is well documented and reported.
7. Some time in December 2008, the respondent filed a suit, being Civil Suit No. 265 of 2008 in the Calcutta High Court seeking a permanent injunction in favour of the respondent and against the petitioner restraining the defendant from publishing alleged defamatory in the said Blog of GAKVED and claiming a sum of Rs. 500 crores as damages for alleged defamation. A true copy of the undated plaint of the abovesaid suit is annexed hereto marked as Annexure P-1.
8. The respondent herein also filed an application, being GA No.4142 of 2008, seeking ad interim injunction. A copy of the said application is Annexure P-2.
9. The suit annexed some selected ‘posts’ on www.mandgoa.blogspot.com, hereinafter referred to as the said Blog. Typed copies of the aforesaid posts annexed with the above plaint are Annexure P-3 herein.
10. On 24-12-2008, the court passed an ex parte interim order restraining the petitioner herein from “re-publishing the same articles and/or stories and/or news items and or any other write ups of any kind containing defamatory statements and/or remarks against the petitioner (the respondent herein) or its group companies in and officers in any blog/website through electronic or printing media or by any other publication,” till January 15, 2009. A copy of the order dated 24-12-2008 of the Calcutta High Court is annexed hereto as Annexure P-4.
11. The suit again came up for hearing on 12-1-2009. On that day, the court again passed an order directing the petitioner to file an affidavit-in-opposition within three weeks, and directed the matter to be listed in six weeks hence. The court also extended the interim order for a further period of 10 weeks. A copy of the order dated 12-1-2009 of the Calcutta High Court is annexed hereto as Annexure P-5.
12. The petitioner states that no other petition has been filed before this Hon’ble court seeking the same relief, and annexures P-1 to P-5 are true copies of the pleadings/documents which formed part of the records of the case in the Court below.
14. GROUNDS:
The transfer of suit is sought for on the following grounds.
I. Trial of the impugned suit at the Calcutta High Court shall result into denial of justice to the petitioner. The respondent company is one of the biggest industrial houses of the state of Goa. It has its registered office as well as a large measure of business operations in the state. Obviously the respondent has enough financial resources to prosecute the impugned suit at the Calcutta High Court, or for that matter, at any other court. Taking advantage of its financial strength and with full knowledge about the modest financial position of the petitioner and his organisation, the respondent has abused its right to choose a forum of its convenience, etc, as the dominus litis, in order to deny justice to the petitioner. The respondent is fully aware that the petitioner and his organisation, being of modest means, would not be able to properly defend the impugned suit at such a far away place and, hence, it shall be easier for the respondent to win the case. It is submitted that such a “victory” would be at the cost of justice. This Hon’ble court has settled that the right of the dominus litis to choose a forum and convenience of the plaintiff, etc. cannot eclipse the requirement of justice.
II. Institution of the impugned civil suit at the Calcutta High Court is an abuse of the process of law. The basis for invoking jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court is that a part of the cause of action had arisen within the jurisdiction of the said court. The basis for this contention is that the impugned ‘posts’ on the Blog, the subject matter of the suit, have been published on the internet, making the posts universally accessible. It is submitted that the respondent cannot be allowed to use the reach of the medium to choose a forum for institution of the impugned suit in such a way that ends of justice are jeopardised.
III. The jurisdiction of the Calcutta High Court has invoked solely on the ground of publication of the impugned ‘posts’ on the internet. It is submitted that the respondent is fully aware that the said ‘posts’ pertain to activities in the state of Goa. Further, the respondent company is fully aware that these ‘posts’ have mainly been accessed in the state of Goa, where it carries on bulk of its business activities. In the circumstances, institution of impugned suit at Calcutta High Court is a clear abuse of law.
IV. The subject matter of the suit, the alleged defamatory reports and statements posted on the Blog of the GAKUVED Federation, pertains to the activities of the respondent in the state of Goa. The plaint makes it clear that the alleged defamatory remarks have been made about the mining activities of the respondent company pertaining to two mines situated in the state of Goa. It is submitted that news reports and comments posted on the Blog are true and correct and expose the illegalities being committed by the respondent company and protests being raised by the local affected communities and civil society organisations. In the circumstances, most of the oral as well as the documentary evidence regarding the alleged illegal activities of the respondent company would be available in Goa, and not at Calcutta. If the trial proceeds at Calcutta, voluminous evidence will have to be carried to Calcutta and several witnesses may have to travel to Calcutta to give evidence. Apart from the inconvenience likely to be caused to the witnesses, the petitioner would also be required to incur substantial travel expenses to secure the presence of the witnesses. Further, despite this the witnesses may be reluctant to travel the long distance to Calcutta. Considerable difficulty may also be experienced in securing discovery and inspection of documents. In the circumstances, the petitioner would be severely handicapped in his defence to the suit, if the suit is tried in Calcutta. The ends of justice, therefore, demand that the suit be transferred from the Calcutta High Court to a court of competent jurisdiction at Goa.
V. Much of the material posted on the impugned Blog is based upon news and other reports published in local Goa publications. Many of these reports etc are in local languages. Further, many of the witnesses whom the petitioner will need to produce in order to substantiate his defence do not know any other language except their mother tongue, i.e. Marathi or Konkani. These factors also militate against a fair trial to the petitioner in Kolkatta.
VI. Institution of the impugned civil suit at the Calcutta High Court is malafide and has been filed for collateral purposes. The impugned suit has been filed by the respondent company at the Calcutta High Court with full knowledge and intention that the petitioner being a social activist shall not, and should not be able to defend the suit. Further, the main motive of the respondent company behind instituting the impugned suit is to severely curtail the petitioner’s (and his organisation’s) legitimate activities to express protest against the illegal mining activities in the state of Goa. It is submitted that the impugned suit has been instituted by the respondent with a clear understanding of these facts, namely that he shall have to restrict his legitimate activities as he would be substantially engaged in defending the suit. Such a curtailment is a serious violation of his fundamental rights. It is submitted that such conduct has been severely deprecated and frowned upon by this Hon’ble court.
VII. It is respectfully submitted that the totality of facts and circumstances of the civil suit show that transfer of the impugned suit from Calcutta High Court to a court of competent jurisdiction in the state of Goa shall further the cause of justice. It is submitted that both the parties to the impugned suit are based in Goa. The subject matter of the suit pertains to activities being undertaken by the parties in the state of Goa. Evidence, oral as well as documentary, relevant for proper adjudication of the suit is situated in Goa. Transfer of the impugned suit shall not cause any prejudice to the respondent company. Further, it is patent that the court of competent jurisdiction in Goa would get better assistance for proper adjudication of the impugned suit. In the circumstances, it is submitted that the transfer of impugned suit shall immensely advance ends of justice.
VIII. There is justification for instituting the impugned suit at Calcutta High Court by the respondent company. The only inescapable conclusion that emerges out of the facts and circumstances is that the impugned suit is malafide and has been instituted for collateral purposes. This Hon’ble court has held in the matter of Troikaa Pharmaceuticals Limited Versus Wockhardt Limited and Anr (Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 60 of 2002) that the courts cannot be allowed to be used for collateral purposes. In the circumstances, it is eminently desirable for the ends of justice that this Hon’ble court transfers the impugned civil suit from Calcutta High Court to a court of competent jurisdiction in the state of Goa.
PRAYER
In the circumstances, it is prayed that this Hon’ble court may be pleased to:
1. Transfer the suit bearing number C.S. No. 265 of 2008, entitled SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL PVT. LTD -Versus- SEBASTIAN alias SEBI Rodigues, pending before the Calcutta High Court, to a court of civil judge, senior division, Bardez at Mapusa in the state of Goa; and
2. Pass such other order/orders as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit in the facts and circumstances of the case.
Drafted by:
Filed by:
Salar M. Khan, Advocate
Anitha Shenoy
Advocate on Record for the Petitioner
Drawn on:
Filed on:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
I.A.No. /2009
IN
TRANSFER PETITION (Civil) NO. OF 2009
IN THE MATTER OF:
SEBASTIAN alias SEBI Rodigues
Petitioner
VERSUS
SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL PVT. LTD.,
Respondent

APPLICATION FOR STAY
To,
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and His Companion Justices of the Supreme Court of India
The humble petition of the Petitioner above named
MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1. This Transfer Petition is being filed seeking transfer of Civil Suit No. 265 of 2008 from Calcutta High Court to a court of competent jurisdiction in Goa.
2. The petitioner craves leave of this Hon’ble Court to refer to on rely upon the facts and circumstances referred to in the accompanying transfer petition.
3. The petitioner has excellent case on merits and the balance of convenience lies in favour of the petitioner and against respondent. The petitioner will suffer irreparable damage if the proceedings in the impugned suit are not stayed by this honourable court.
P R A Y E R: -
In the circumstances it is prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to: -
a. Pass an order, ex parte order staying proceedings in the suit no C.S. No. 265 of 2008, entitled SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL PVT. LTD -Versus- SEBASTIAN alias SEBI Rodigues, pending before the Calcutta High Court, till pendancy of the present petition;
b. Confirm such interim order after notice of motion to the respondent; and
c. Pass such other order/orders as are deemed fit..

ANITHA SHENOY
Advocate for the Petitioner

PLACE: NEW DELHI
FILED ON: /04/2009

Trouble In Paradise

Megha Bahree, 09.10.09, 11:45 PM EDT


Published in Forbes magazine from United States of America

An hour's drive from Goa's luxury resorts, Indian mining companies are wrecking the land and breaking laws.

Ramesh Gauns, an English and geography school teacher, gets into an argument with a security guard. The site is a long barbed wire fence that slopes uphill just outside an iron ore site operated by the Dempo Mining Co. in his native Goa, on the western coast of India. "You can't take pictures, this is private property," the guard says to Gauns and a reporter. Gauns is used to confrontation with the mining companies. "I know what you're doing here," he shouts. "It's illegal! You can't scare us!" By this time, the reporter has already snapped a handful of shots of the lake below -- which is dyed the color of dried blood from the mine's runoff.

Gauns, 58, is a perennial protestor in Goa. He has demonstrated against the caste system, religious rituals and, most recently, what he believes to be environmental crimes. His latest fight started three years ago, when he went to a public hearing on a proposed iron ore mine on the banks of the river in his home town, Bicholim. He mobilized the community, filed a complaint with the state environmental agency, then took his cause to the Delhi High Court, which put the project on hold.

He hopes he will be as successful with his latest target, the Dempo mine. It is there that the residents of Sirigaon filed a petition to the Bombay High Court in June 2008, complaining that their wells were drying up and that their fields were ruined because of silt from the mines. The court directed the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, an autonomous government body, to investigate.

That report, out since March, validates the villagers' complaints, and says the companies should replenish the aquifer, restore the damaged rice fields and stabilize the mine waste -- measures that might take 18 months at a total cost of $1.4 million. The court has not yet decided how to proceed -- prompting activists like Gauns to collect more data against the mines.

Most Indians know nothing of the standoff. Nor do the hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists who flock to Goa for its sparkling beaches, luscious greenery, rave parties and Cancun laxity. But the state is also rich in iron ore, and 90% of its length (65 miles) is in various stages of open-pit mining.

Most resorts are an hour's drive away from the mines, but the mining industry isn't quite out of sight. From the sandy shores of the beach resorts, sunbathers can see barge after barge, fully-loaded with mine slag, every morning on the Arabian Sea.

"Goa is a tiny place, and any mining activity in the interiors, will affect the coastal areas as well," says Gauns, whom the Ministry of Environment & Forests has designated as a go-to guy for schools and teachers.

Whatever the High Court decides, this is a tough battle. Last year India exported 100 million tons of iron ore -- 45% of it from Goa -- most of which ended up in China, says industry research firm Steel Guru in Mumbai. Behind that output are powerful players. Since June, Dempo has belonged to Indian mining tycoon Anil Agarwal (net worth more than $4 billion), after his subsidiary Sesa Goa acquired it for $360 million and became the largest operator in the area. Along with Rajaram Bandekar (Sirigaon) Mines Pvt. Ltd., and Chowgule & Co. Pvt. Ltd., Dempo has been mining the Sirigoan area, 35 kms from Goa's capital Panjim, for six decades.

Up until the mid-1990s, the companies relied on men with shovels. Then, as the surface ore was depleted, they switched to mechanized, open-pit mining, relying on giant excavators that can dig holes as deep as 40 meters below sea level. The overburden -- the mud, soil and rocks left over from the ore slag -- gets tossed on the sides of the pit in huge piles. This is where the problems start. The deeper the companies dig, the more water they drain from the surrounding water tables. The higher the mountains of overburden, the more apt they are to be washed away in the rains, polluting water supplies and rendering fields unusable for planting.

For each ton of ore produced, miners dig out three tons of waste -- about average for such sites. However, some mines are in clear violation of certain conditions laid down by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The ministry stipulates that overburden be piled no higher than 30 meters and at a gradient of no more than 28 degrees. But Gauns maintains that mounds at several Dempo mines in Goa have had gradients as high as 45 degrees and have been piled far higher than the limits allow. Such conditions can create perilous instability, says Kadri Dagdelen, head of the department of mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. "I don't think you can keep the broken material at 45 degrees because with rain it will wash away," he says. Or the winds can carry it miles from the site. Even as the monsoons had barely begun, the surrounding roads and villages were dusted in rust-colored soil.

It was after their wells had been drying up over four or five years, in an area that typically gets 2,000 mm to 2,500 mm of annual rainfall, that the residents of Sirigaon filed their petition to the high court. The mining area controlled by the three companies is a plateau 100 meters above sea level that captures rainwater as it percolates through the several layers of soil and acts as a so-called recharge zone for the ground water system. But, says the court-ordered report, the recharge area has been destroyed as the miners have dug into the plateau to reach the ore.

As the companies have dug deeper, they have reached levels lower than the water table. As a result, the water from the village area is sliding into the mine pits, further depleting the water supply. In some cases, water from the pits can seep into the groundwater, contaminating it. "If the aquifers are draining into the mines, the miners can pump it out but this water can be acid water," says Tuncel Yegulalp, a professor of mining engineering at Columbia University. "If this were in the U.S., the government would never have given the company permission to mine in such close proximity to residential areas."

But even pumping can pose hazards. A Dempo mine in the region has dug down to 30 meters below sea level and has to pump out 3,000 cubic meters to 10,000 cubic meters of water per day from its pits. This, says the court-ordered report, is directly discharged into the nearby Asnoda river. But the effluent is extremely brackish -- containing high concentrations of chloride (510 mg to 642 mg per liter) -- and can't be used for drinking, cooking, cleaning or irrigation. Usually a mining company creates an artificial pond into which it pumps water from the pits, treats it to remove harmful ingredients, and then discharges it. But Dempo doesn't bother with any of that, says the report.

The mining waste also washes into fields, ruining the rice crops. An analysis by the reporting group found soil samples that contained as much as 86% silt; unaffected fields had up to 67% silt. Such a high density of silt means that soil can't hold or percolate water, rendering it useless for planting much of anything. The soil has also become acidic, and has low supplies of the microorganisms that sustain oxygen, nitrogen and other nutrients to make soil fertile.

It wouldn't take much in the way of remediation. In addition to collecting rooftop rain water, the report suggests the companies create artificial recharge pits, controlling mine water seepage by sealing it in with grout along the edge of the mines and adding treated mine water to a back fill area for an aquifer storage recovery system. Two of the companies, Bandekar and Chowgule, have set up recharge pits.

Not Dempo. P.K. Mukherjee, managing director of Agarwal's Sesa Goa subsidiary, says the company read the report while it was gearing up to buy Dempo. "There are people who are not doing mining the way it should be done," he shrugs. "Dempo is not operating in the Sesa way, but it has not been the worst [either]."

The state government has dragged its feet, too. In 2000 it declared two areas in western Goa -- Mhadei and Netravali, which cover 420 square kilometers -- wildlife sanctuaries. But it didn't cancel pre-existing mining leases within that region. The Supreme Court had to step in with a cease-and-desist order. Though mining has halted, the areas remain devastated.

Even today, Goa officials don't seem inclined to move against mine operators. Asked when the state might act on the court-ordered report, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat says he hasn't seen it. How is that possible? "I don't have time for this," he barks, before slamming down the phone.

Gauns and his colleague Sebastian Rodriguez, 36, seem to enjoy the fight, and are well known among Goa's protest community. Rodriguez is an activist on behalf of tribal peoples and a blogger -- which has gotten him into trouble. Fomento Group, a mining company with the greatest number of leases in Goa, has filed a defamation suit against him, seeking $100 million in damages. Rodriguez claims that Fomento is just using scare tactics.

His only hope is that the law will be applied fairly. In Goa, that's not a given.

SC refuses to shift Seby’s case

JAL KHAMBATA
NEW DELHI, SEPT 11

The Supreme Court on Friday refused a petition filed by a Goan NGO blogger for transfer of a Rs 500-crore defamation suit filed against him in the Calcutta High Court by Fomento industries, a mining company of Timblos in Goa.

The petition was withdrawn following the Supreme Court Bench declining the prayer to shift the case to a civil court in Goa. Blogger Sebastiano Rodrigues had come to the Apex Court, alleging harassment by the industrialist by filing the suit far away in Kolkata.
The case had come up before the Bench of Justices Dalbeer Bhandari and B S Chauhan. The industrialist had filed the suit accusing Seby, an environmentalist and tribal welfare activist, of defaming the company in his Internet blog mandgoa.blogspot.com.

Sociedade de Fomento Industrial Private Limited was irked by Seby’s blog attacking it as part of his campaign against the iron ore mining industries of Goa.

The petition had sought transfer of the case to Goa on the ground that both the company and Seby were from Goa and the alleged defamatory writings on the blog pertained to Fomento’s activities in Goa.

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court does not have original jurisdiction for entertaining the civil suits and hence the plea was made to transfer the case to a civil court in Goa. The Supreme Court, however, did not agree to transfer the case.

Herald, Panaji, September 12, 2009

Wendell confronts Sujay, and sends him packing!

Eyewitness reports are coming in from various sources about an incident that occurred last night (May 07, 2009) at the Times of India First Anniversary party at the Hotel Mariott. Apparently designer Wendell Rodricks was involved in a verbal confrontation with PRO Sujay Gupta and station-head Ethel D'Costa which led to the latter two making a hasty exit from the party.
Onlookers say that the trouble started when Sujay trooped in with Ethel towards the end of the party, post dinner, and in passing said something to Wendell, who retaliated by saying something to the effect, "I don't speak to, or mix with, people like you who sell Goa and Goans." Sujay apparently walked off to the other side of the party in a huff, with Ethel in tow.

Wendell was asked by some people about his comment and he took great pains to explain, to those who didnt know, about Sujay's exact involvement with the Timblos and Fomento and Cidade de Goa and how he was the spin doctor who had been hired to make their illegal and unethical activities look clean.

As the party progressed someone informed Wendell that Sujay wasn't even invited for the party and had just tagged along with Ethel. Sujay on the other hand seemed unconcerned about not being welcome and was all over the place socialising with Ethel.

Litte later Wendell went up to Sujay and told him that he was a backstabber and had no business mixing around with Goans. Wendell's partner Jerome joined in the argument by bringing up the fact that Sujay, on behalf of his employers, had filed a frivolous Rs. 500 crore case in a Calcutta court. Wendell too was quite angry by now and was shouting loudly. Sujay and Ethel were trying to pacify them but it didn't work and they kept on firing Sujay and even Ethel for having brought this 'slimeball' for the party. They accused Ethel of being 'two-faced'.

Wendell told them both to get out which they eventually did, with theTOI editor leading them out. There were lots of cheers when they then left, mortified, and even some clapping.
This is what I gathered from various sources that were present at the party. I hope someone who was present will write a more accurate report. It is a good thing as I see it. People like Sujay who are paid mercenaries for the people who are raping Goa should be told that we are not going to take any more crap. My hats off to Wendell and Jerome for doing the right thing. Sujay is paid to hide dirty deeds. He should be exposed and socially ostracised.

Cheers!
Cecil

Merinews article on Goa mining protests: Interview with Sebastian Rodrigues by Armstrong Vaz

Merinews website has carried an article on Goa with focus on mining protests. Click here to read.

Strong voices against mining!

As many of you will probably know there has been an online petition against open cast mining in Goa, and the unnecessary harassment meted out to Seby Rodrigues, whose only crime has been to consistently oppose our corrupt, short-sighted, greedy mining industry in Goa.

While many tell me that an online petition collecting signatures is of no use given the greed of those at the helm in Goa, I feel more important than the quantum of signatures on this petition are the strong comments affixed to them.

As of now, the petition has garnered over a thousand signatures, averaging about ten a day and sometimes more. We will of course get far more, because, as you will note from the comments of some of the signatories below, Goans have realized just what mining will do to Goa and the word is spreading courtesy the net. The mining lobby in Goa can own, control and manipulate the media, they can attempt to buy the intellectuals and artistic elite in Goa with temporary sops, but they can't, not even with all their ill-begotten wealth, stop the flow of information from person to person and peoples to peoples.

Below are appended some of the comments. I can only hope that these will inspire those who read them and compel them to let this petition fly in cyberspace. The link to the petition and my mailer follow the comments:

Terence Jorge: The miners and, as it appears, a number of our own politicians don’t give a damn about scenic beauty, availability of potable water or human or animal life for that matter. BUT EVERY TRUE GOAN DOES! They will stop at nothing to make a BIG quick buck....and we Goans will stop at nothing to preserve OUR EXISTENCE and OUR IDENTITY...This is an IMMINENT, IMMEDIATE & REAL threat to our existence in our own homes....

Laura Fernandes: Please save our homeland environment for the future innocent generations who currently have no voice!!! Mark Quintal: "Nature had enough for everybody's need but not for everybody's greed." - Mahatma Gandhi

P. Raikar: Shame Mr. Digamber and Mr. Joaquim Alemao. You are sucking the blood of humble people of Goa to make your living. You forgot that you are the one who comes begging for votes at the election time at our doors and now elections are coming near. It is for us the people of Goa to understand that our mother Goa is being raped openly and we are watching the show. Shame on us. Throw dung on this people. Please choose President's Rule.

Cindy Figueira: I feel extremely sad about this! Destroying the environment for financial gain is criminal. Any environmental and social impact assessments carried out prior to mining activities would have clearly indicated that this mining operation would be detrimental to the environment and would more than likely cause severe nuisance and loss in earnings to its' neighbours (which it seems to have done!), unless managed properly (which clearly it hasn't been!). It should be clear to anyone with a minuscule amount of environmental morality and common sense that this mining operation should be legally shut down immediately before it permanently destroys the environment. Additionally the owners of the mine should legally be forced to make good the environmental damage caused. This type of activity really gives Goans a bad name!

Camilla D'Souza: I have seen the devastation caused by the mining groups, an entire hill in the Quepem area has disappeared in less than a year, wake up!

Shifali Goyal: Act before you realize that Goa has become a chapter in your kid's history book rather a heavenly place to go and enjoy.

F.Almeida: Mr. CM - Digamber Kamat, you seem to be wanting to hold on the CM's chair and agree to all the mine owners tell you without any concern to the environment and nature. You along with your cabinet ministers have destroyed Goa just to hold on to your "KODEL". How can you love and pray to God, when you are destroying the nature created by God. You are a hypocrite.

Jason Keith Fernandes: Your Government's regional plan has been marked by absolutely no debate on crucial issues such as mining and agriculture. Clearly your regional plan is merely an attempt at private appropriation of profits from public resources! From mega housing projects, to sports cities, to supporting destructive mining. What is your Government's stand on all of this? Sheer silence!

Alex Menezes: We live for a short time on this earth but generations to come have also to live. So save the earth.

Arjun Rebelo: It is time mining companies take up environmental rehabilitation. With all the profits they are making they are not even spending 5% on repairing the damage.

Adrian Fernandes: I am Aged 9. The Goa environment is being destroyed everyday, What will I share with my fellow Goan community in future?

Kumar Kalanand Mani: Dear Digambarbab, Respecting mother is prime duty of every child. You being son of mother earth, ban mining forever immediately. Your post is not permanent, but mother earth is permanent source for survival of your children and of the entire Goan community.

A.Mascarenhas: Enough is enough. The entire world is finally coming together to solve the problems of environmental exploitation. The time has come for the Indian and Goan government to do the same.

Stepheny Dias: The State of Goa is God’s gift to us, so its our duty to preserve this paradise for our future generations. Save Goa today, please. Mr. Chief Minister use your office discreetly.

Dr. Cornel DaCosta: Open mining can be catastrophic to the natural environment and Goa is too small and beautiful to be destroyed by open mining. Additionally, I am not persuaded that revenues from mining go to local people but to the mine owners who largely pocket the revenues unaccountably.

Philip Neri de Souza: Mr. C M, The Portugese, British and French came for trade and ended up being the owners of the land. Local rulers at the time supported the foreign powers in their mission to “grab our land”, receiving personal gifts, positions and favours in return. STRANGE, but TRUE, in the year 1662 part of it (Bombay) was given as dowry to Charles II, king of England, when he married the Princess of Portugal. (Whose land? To whom?) Isn’t it coincidental that present day rulers in Goa together with pliable officers, (some own heavy machinery that are used at mine sites) too are colluding with private entities (some were Portuguese agents and received mining concessions as rewards) to sell and rape Goa, in the name of Mining, SEZ, Real estate, etc. It isn’t strange Seby has been sued in a Court in West Bengal. The foreigners too harassed Indians with cases in London and Lisbon. Although your son-in-law too has stakes in the mining business, we demand that you put “PEOPLE FIRST”, and ACT NOW. Stop this harassment. Will you?

Wendell Rodricks: Mining would not have become the issue it has become if it were not for greed of few individuals, a Government hand in glove with illegal mining and a total apathy for Goans living near mining areas whose voice has constantly been unheard in the face of money and power.

Gwen de Souza: A special plea to the Timblo Family to protect, nurture and respect this God given beautiful land. We all have a responsibility to our future generations. Once it is destroyed it can never be restored, please put economic greed aside for the good of all people. The Govt. of Goa has a moral responsibility to protect exploitation and need to legislate so that mining does not go ahead.

Aakash Bagchi: It is high time we pay heed to what Mother Nature is saying to us for long. Such activities should be controlled by the government instead of it backing such activities. Time for us, the common men, to rise and do our duty towards mankind and our Earth, our only home. I back Seby wholeheartedly and am not afraid of any power brokers as I still have faith in the judicial system of the country Juanita Poletto: It is disappointing to see the government of the people not only letting your mother land down, but the people who are trying to protect it. Goa, its environment and its people are important. The world is watching to see how you treat those who are truly trying to do the best for their community.

Cleto Fernandes: Why this Timblo idiot, or should i say over-smart, don’t live in the area where he is doing mining? Because he wants to drink bottled water while the locals have to drink contaminated water and breath dusty mining air. Shame on you Timblos, Sirdoncar chase this .... out of your village.

Deepika Sarma: Residents and citizens ought to have a say in decisions directly relating to problems concerning them, irrespective of the power and size of private companies on the prowl for profit. The damage to people and the environment in this case is irreparable and outrageous. In the interests of the environment and sustainable development, this has to stop immediately. The government ought to look into and regulate the actions of large companies when it comes to matters of such local as well as national importance.

Mathewes Fernandes: Our Government is managed by mining Companies, we need to come out on Road with our family to fight this.

Larson Souza: I guess our approach (of tolerance and non-violence) is killing us, and making us puppets on our own soil. I think its high time we change our views and resort to other means (NOT TO EXCLUDE ANY) to overcome this menace. I think many of you should or rather may agree with me…

Prerna Bindra: I have personally been at the receiving end of Timblo strong-arm tactics. And been a witness to the horrifying destruction and devastation the mines are causing to Goa. It is shameful that the beautiful--and ecologically fragile state of Goa, is being sold for a song--to be raped mindlessly by mines, without any cause for ecological or social concerns.

Dr Anesimo Fernandes: Only those who have lived around the mining areas will know about disastrous effect on Environment and health due to the mining activities. These mining barons have made a fortune from these natural resources which belong to the People of Goa. Now, some of them have the audacity to harass those who are fighting these atrocities. It is time these mining barons are held accountable and made to pay.

Bosco de Sousa Eremita: All the greedy mine owners ought to go to Mars. There's lot of excess ore unattended. Will they take up the challenge rather than devastate our means of livelihood and seek to silence even those who voice the opinion of the silent majority?

Vinay Natekar: Mine owners with connivance with the ruling dispensation are hell bent to destroy the environment of Goa. The Government should not renew their licences for further mining activities unless they adhere to the rules of environment protection. The villagers living in the mining vicinity are prone to inhale and consume the toxic mineral residual dust everyday. We have right to live in a clean healthy environment.

Freddy Agnelo Fernandes: I would like to inform you, that, you should realize the genuine concerns of Goans & ACT immediately & decisively to stop the RAPE of GOA through mining and stop the harassment meted to Seby Rodrigues and rest of the activists by your “Miner Friends and well wishers” before the unstable volatility of the situation erupts in to mega volcanic eruption, in our beloved Goa, which may consume you, me and every one. Never ever forget that you and your comrades in arms are the chosen representative of the people of Goa, elected to do the will of the People of Goa, by the People of Goa. You are strongly advised not to take advantage of your position and power given to you by the People of Goa and use it against the very own people that elected you. I plead, please do not ever underestimate the power and will of the people of Goa. I once again request you to intervene and force Timblo to withdraw the case against Seby, here is a chance for you and your comrades to redeem yourselves, I sincerely hope you’ll take it.

Gizelle Noronha: Under the pretext of development and progress, all a certain few in the state have been doing, is satisfying their own greed. The very same people have been indiscriminately testing the patience of the common man in Goa, but, not for long. I hope the concerned parties realise that their days are numbered.

Desmond Macedo: Goa's greenery and waterways are tourism mines in themselves. What madness to destroy them.

Umesh Shrikhande: Sir. Please realise that by setting an example of protecting the environment in Goa, you will have taught an important lesson to our country as well. Please, please do everything in your might to protect, conserve and in fact grow the green cover of Goa.

Shilpa Uttam: Goa is beautiful and India benefits from it tremendously due to the Tourism it attracts. We should become conscious and refrain from doing harm to our own country.

Avani Shah: Please make the environmental laws stricter otherwise Global Warming effects are not too far.

Jaki Bostiao: The mining and builders mafia has destroyed the very fabric of Goan environment

Zenade Peu: We should fight tooth and nail to protect the environment from greedy politicians who are the real murderers occupying chairs to fill their pockets at the cost of human lives.

Dr. Meenal Mamdani: Open cast mining has destroyed the environment in other areas where it has been used. Please don't make the same mistake in Goa.

Lynette Viegas: If we allow the destruction of the environment to continue, we will destroy Goa forever.

Lynette Gomes: Please stop this destruction of the environment. Please let Goa remain green for our children & their children.

Praxedes Gomes: I remember the green Goa of my childhood. Please do something the save the environment from total destruction at the hands of GREEDY MEN.

Michael Gonsalves: Dear Chief Minister, If you care for Goa initiate action on war footing to stop wanton open-cast mining in golden Goa that is destroying countryside, the forest cover, and polluting valuable fresh water resources. It is time to restore Goa to its pristine glory. Show you care and win the Goan hearts.

Vidya Kane: Move from 'Mine' to ours & Fight for Forest Covers. Its good for us and development can certainly happen without irresponsible mining.

Indira Vijaysimha: surely a green forest cover is worth more than the minerals buried under it…

Ramnath Prabhudessai: If i was having the power i could have stopped mining and all facilities would have given to Agriculture sector.

Mini: Stop colluding with the Timblo mine lobby. Victimisation and muzzling through the defamation suit in Calcutta is unacceptable.

Avelino D'Souza: The rich and the powerful are making a mockery of the judicial system.

Sonia Filinto: One of the main problems that plagues our country is unashamed greed. Not satisfied with what we can achieve/obtain through fair means, blatant abuse of power for personal gains overrides all. And that's exactly what's happening here.

Joe Lobo: if we make Goa unliveable for common people in villages with the pollution to enrich a small elite we shall destroy the beauty of Goa and hurt the "aam admi".

Charmaine de Souza: Many people in Bicholim are suffering from Terminal illnesses due to the mining in that area.

Sreesha Shetty: Save Goa, don't barbarize it!

George Pinto: Goa is being destroyed by the mining and building lobbies with the help of Goan politicians.

Godfrey Pereira: Stop the mining. Think about Goa, for once in your life and what this will do to the place. Get your money from another source. That is the bottom line "MONEY". Once again STOP what you people are doing to Goa. STOP.

Marisa D'Souza: Goa's pristine environments should be preserved for generations to come and generate tourist income instead of being destroyed by mining operations.

Badri Raina: Why not mine in gujarat? No opposition, no hassles, perfect silence of the graveyard; emulate the Tatas, Ambanis etc., and be counted among the greats.

David: Give the future generation a chance to live in natural surrounding than in a garbage dump!!!

Melinda Powell: Wealth accumulated from irresponsible mining is tainted --shame on Fomentos!

Venita Coelho: For shame Timblos! For shame Sujay Gupta - you keep writing about how much you love Goa - we've now seen for ourselves what this purported love is about. For Shame!

Sheela Gowda: I strongly oppose the vandalization of nature and the use of the Judiciary to validate it, to silence people who seek a better world for everyone.

Salil Chaturvedi: I live far from the Western Ghats but I feel they belong to me as well. Tampering with them affects weather patterns and hence my life too. Dear Chief Minister, who will sue the powerful miners for the destruction of my natural heritage?

Renwick Alphonso: What is happening to Goa? Why so much greed amongst the Timblos? Why should the rich get richer at the common man's expense? Lets Keep Goa green and beautiful...

J Mario Fernandes: Natural resources should be used judiciously for the betterment of the people, NOT to manipulate them in ways reminiscent of feudalism

Isabella Fernandes: Please leave Goa and its beauty alone. We don't want changes in Goa which destroys the natural beauty of Goa and puts people's life and health at risk.

James Pochury: I stand by Seby and hail his courage of conviction, and dare suing me as well. I am anguished at the sheer lack of humane sense of living. Why is it that a few have to keep standing up for the good of everyone and while even fewer others continue to destroy everything on their way?!

Jerry Fernandes: Goa is what Goa is with its environment. Its destruction can make Goa what it should not be.

Gurunath Diwadkar: "we abuse earth because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see the earth as community to which we belong, we begin to use it with love and respect" Aldo Leopold.

Colleen Bowen: I love Goa and a large company like Formento bullying the little man and destroying the lives of many small villagers and Mr. Seby for the mighty RUPEE especially now when the world should be saving the environment is a DISGRACE and the world should know about this. Come on Chief Minister get off your backside and do something for the little men you represent, if you are the CHIEF show your true colours and stop the nonsense.

Venantius J Pinto: Goans have to have the courage to recognize betrayal, absolute and abject rejection of themselves by those who seek to ceaselessly dismember the collective Goan mind in its anguish, while yet stripping it of its basic depth of being and communion.

Poonam Mascarenhas: If we continue to alienate ourselves from the Planet, we (humans) will perish! It is high time we as species evolved from ravagers to caretakers! Money power games are so very out dated! Miners, lawyers, law-makers- wake up and catch-up!!!!

Sucheta Potnis: A suit filed in Calcutta is a clear indication of harassment on top of the ludicrous amount of 500 crore. First of all, has Fomento really `lost' 500 crore due to the blog? Secondly, if they feel the need to sue Seby, is there something wrong with Goa's courts?? Shame on Sujay who was such a champion of Goa not so long ago! How come this U turn?

William Luis: A counter case for double the amount will teach these rich to bring the poor victimised to their level and capable of sustaining at their own level. God bless those who work for the poor and persecuted. The fight for denouncing all forms of evil must never end. It is just a matter of time for truth to surface.

Olinda Fernandes: Why do you choose to destroy our haven? Goa, according to the Puranas, is one of the most sacred spaces on this Planet. Please, please try and understand the power you have - you have the POWER to ensure that GOA retains its biodiversity. YOU have the power to be become a CUSTODIAN/GUARDIAN. Please take the time to contemplate what you (the government, and individuals concerned) can do to conserve this very, very precious piece of earth. You are blessed too. Become custodians, not destroyers.

John Roso Monteiro: This man needs to be heard, read & helped. Prosecuting him is a diversion to take up his time & money to stop him from speaking out against the open-cast mining, legal or illegal this has to be investigated. Money is power to those who will diminish Goa & its people.

Lisa Pires: Goa is being destroyed by corrupt politicians who are concerned only about filling their own pockets.

Vikrant Dessai: I have seen the deterioration first hand while working in mining area at Codlim.

Jamshed Madon: How dare a handful of men hold an entire state to ransom by systematically chipping away at what is largely its natural resources. How will they justify their stand to their own children and descendants once we have no more water to drink and clean air to breathe? Stop the digging today.

Aileen Klarmann: The destruction of nature must stop immediately! How can such a fruitful country like India allow this kind of behaviour? Money can never replace the splendour and grace of nature. This entire act is part of mankind's arrogance and if it doesn't stop, the consequences will be grave. Money will NEVER replace a beautiful tree or flower! It wasn't intentional, but in retrospect, it seems nice to end that small selection of comments with the line that money, will NEVER ever never replace a beautiful tree or flower...

Will the Timblos and Dempos and Salgaoncars of this world ever understand that? I don't think so. Financial greed lurking in the guise of 'development' has its own compulsions. Below is the mailer, I have been sending out. The Timblos, wrongly advised by Sujay Gupta, put the case against Seby to suppress the flow of information from his blog. The mailer provides links to Seby's anti-mining blog, the GBA website, Rajan Parrikar's photodocumentary and Kurush Canteenwalla's recent documentary.

What are the Timblos going to do now? Sue all of them too? Below the mailer.

Please help to pass it around. I have sent out 2,254 personal mails and have exhausted my list. ________ If you have already signed this petition against open-cast mining and the high-handed and destructive ways of the mining companies in Goa, thank you; if you haven't please help us pass it around and urge people to sign up!

The western ghats are one of the ten biological hotspots that can do their bit against global warming, but the mining companies in Goa don't seem to know that, We have just managed to get some 1,050 signatures, when, in actual fact, to make this campaign truly successful WE NEED 500,000!

Below is the mailer that has been sent out. Some of the links will undoubtedly shock you. Please extend support by putting this out to whatever networks you have...especially young people for whose future environment we are fighting for. Later we intend making this petition public by sending the link and its password to persons in the media sympathetic to our cause. PLEASE HELP US. http://www.PetitionOnline.com/sue4000/petition.html

Please open the above and sign petition against mining in Goa WHILE ALSO ADDING A STRONG COMMENT.

Please also pass this around to your friends in Goa and elsewhere. If we get the signatures we want, we are sure the Chief Minister and the goons in the mining industry will sit up and take note! To know more about just what mining is doing in Goa please also visit http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/

You could also visit http://www.savegoa.com/

One more link that will shock you is:
http://www.parrikar.com/blog/therapeofgoa/therapeofgoa.html

You may also like watching the film on mining in Goa made late last year by Kurush Canteenwalla at
http://infochangeindia.org/Infochange-documentary.html

Thanks and kind regards,

Hartman de Souza

Defamation Case: Parishioners of St. Anthony's Church of Nuvem and Cabo-da-Rama, Canacona contributes Rs.6935/-

Parishioners of St. Anthony's Church of Nuvem and Cabo-da-Rama, Canacona, Goa contributed Rs.6935/- towards litigation costs for defamation case against Sebastian Rodrigues by Fomento mining company.

GAKUVED accepts this tremendous gesture of Solidarity. It inspires us further in struggle.

Salvador Dias contributes Rs.1000/- towards Calcutta High Court defamation case

Salvador Dias contributes Rs.1000/- towards Calcutta High Court defamation case filed by Fomentos against Sebastian Rodrigues for writing online.

GAKUVED appreciates the contribution and thankful for the same.

Abhijit/Laila Almeida contributes Rs.1000/- towards Calcutta High Court Litigation costs

Abhijit/Laila Almeida contributed Rs.1000/- towards Calcutta High Court against Sebastian Rodrigues by Fomento mining company litigation costs.

GAKUVED appreciates their Support and Solidarity.

Manshi Asher contributes Rs.1000/- towards defamation case litigation

Manshi Asher contributed Rs.1000/- towards litigation of defamation suit against Sebastian Rodrigues by Fomentos.

GAKUVED is appreciates her Solidarity gesture.

BIRSA contributes Rs.5000/- towards defamation case litigation cost

Bindrai Institute of Study Research and Action (BIRSA), Ranchi has contributed Rs.5000/- towards defamation case litigation cost at over Fomentos case against Sebastian Rodrigues at Calcutta High Court.

GAKUVED deeply appreciates to this Solidarity gesture from Jharkhand.

Shrikant Nagvekar contributes Rs.100/- towards defamation case litigation

Shrikant Nagvekar contributes Rs.100/- towards defamation case litigation that has arisen due to Fomentos Calcutta High Court civil suit against Sebastian Rodrigues.

GAKUVED gratefully aknowledges the contribution.

Dr. Audhooth Prabhu Dessai contributes Rs.1000/- towards litigation cost of defamation case

Dr. Audhooth Prabhu Dessai contributed Rs.1000/- towards litigation cost of defamation case against Sebastian Rodrigues by Fomentos at Calcutta High Court, Kolkata.

GAKUVED is appreciates his gesture of Solidarity.

Fomento and Corporate Social Responsibity .. ...

This article was circulated on GoaNet on 19 February 2009.

Fomento and Corporate Social Responsibilty? No need for guessing the gentleman behind this public relations exercise to show how concerned and caring the Timblos are about Goa's garbage?

They'd be interested to know that the online petition currently doing the rounds has well over a thousand signatures (and growing in number through the days), and, more importantly, each affixed to comments that strongly condemn Fomento and their other friends in the mining industry for being anything but socially responsible.

They'd be surprised how many people know what they they have been doing to destroy the Western Ghats for their own growth and prosperity. And lest it be forgotten, then their other 'public relations exercise' - slapping a defamation suit against Seby, for consistently exposing their machinations in the Mandgoa blog.

One wonders why people who consider themselves 'industrialists' by sheer virtue of their assets and holdings, are not able to see the writing on the wall. The Essar Group, keen on putting up a steel mill in North Caxton Bay in Trinidad, have been brought to their knees by Rhea Mungal, a Seby kind of character, who, armed with a computer and befriended by a radical academic in the University of the West Indies put out an online petition, and posted material on several international sites . Their world wide campaign has stirred environmentalists and the general public and brought pressure on the Jindals to put their tails between their legs and run. The Jindals are also getting it in the neck in Bolivia and right here in our backyard, in Tamil Nadu, where an activist in Salem, Piyush Manush, has mobilized entire villages to chase them away.

The online petition against open cast mining in Goa, giving links to sites showing the devastation caused by mining in Goa (Seby's blog for which he is being sued, and Kurush Canteenwalla's documentary film) is now doing the rounds in four continents. Even as this is being written, other moves are already underway to get visitors from the West coming to Goa to boycott the Marriot and Cidade de Goa because of their business ties to mining companies destrying Goa's rich bio-diversity. Goan students studying in Mumbai and college students in Kolakata have been contacted for their help in a la Greepeace style to placard matches involving Dempo and Salgaoncar teams.

Dempos have already begun operation in Coastal Maharashtra in the ghats between Sawantwadi and Ambolim, and Maharashtrians are not happy about it. It is just a question of time before people come out on the roads as they have done in Tamil Nadu to chase away the Jindals.

One still wonders, somewhat bemused, why these so-called Goan 'industrialists' never bothered to diversify. What stopped them getting into the more environment-friendly software industry, and gradually letting go of their mining interests?

Just plain greedy I guess...if it's there for the taking, why not just take it?

Anju Timblo has been steering with distinction the Cidade de Goa hotel. She comes from a distinguished family in Delhi, known for its adherence to the law, and indeed, for practising it in court. Wouldn't 'corporate social responsibility' for the Timblos begin with not encroaching on a public beach and, insidiously, attempting to privatise it? Then, in true spirit of the constitution admitting their fault as shown in the Supreme Court verdict that went against them?

Wouldn't 'corporate social responsibity' entail seeing how the land can be regenerated, even as one attempts to throughtlessly rape it for the ore beneath? Wouldn't 'corporate social responsibility' mean that one attempts to deal with Goa's garbage problem proactively, well before it became a 'public' issue to be mined for its 'Public Relations' potential?

Would the Timblos and Salgaoncars grant us full access to the hotel and to their mines to film exactly where they have broken the law and where they continue to break the law?

Are they willing to put up for public scrutiny the environment-assessment reports on which basis they got their so-called 'environment clearances' from the MOEF? The mining companies should know that these reports prepared on a template provided by a lab in Hyderabad were sent to the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, and lest the mining companies bump off a few of us, they have all been photocopied and distributed world-wide. It is an open secret that just last year a politician in Goa made several trips to Delhi on behalf of the mining companies, ferrying money, if you please. Thirty crore by one estimate. All this will surface at the opportune moment, and things made so hot, the shit will definitely hit the ceiling

Thankfully, the discourse surrounding issues that threaten Goa, like mining, SEZs, dirty real estate deals, has broadened in a way that our largely illiterate politicians and their business associates and cronies just don't seem to realize.

Yes, they can get their goons to bump off a few, frighten off a few more, buy a handful off here and there, but the discourse surrounding these burning issues grows exponentially. There are people not frightened of saving the foothills of the Western Ghats, and this the mining companies must realize before it is too late, before, courtesy the internet, they are exposed to the entire world. They can try to kill one, but there will be two more in her place. To protect the forest and water, believe me, there are people who will join the fray...

The mining in Kawrem and Maina contnues unabated. On phone just now from Margao, Cheryl D'Souza who farms in the area tells me that 2000 trucks have been registered in Quepem, and at least 1,500 drive through every day, from 5 am in the morning till 9 pm at night. Sales to China apparently have picked up. A new mining site has just begun just after Maina across the Curca river. East of this the mining companies have already finished a large area adjacent to the Kushawati.

The story from Maina is anything but happy, which is why one views with disgust the reprehensible attempt by the Timblos to even hint at social responsibilty. Claude Alvares, Cheryl tells me, recently told Father Mathias and Rama Velip from Sulcorna and Collomb respectively, that they should go on the roads and prepare for a final fight. That's easier said than done Cheryl tells me, because at the end of the day, she is alone there.

But that's not really true. I believe her when she says that when the mining machines come up the hill towards her farm, minister or no minister owning the company, she and her daughter Aki will block their way. I believe her because I do not know too many Goans today who would have refused the astronomical sum she was offered to stay behind and do battle for her large farm, the forests around it, the water and the wild life.

I know she won't be alone. Courtesy the mobile, media in Mumbai and Delhi will be instantly alerted if she comes under attack as she daily expects to, given the greed of some of our politicians and the arrogance they have that they can actually get away with murder in this day and age. Courtesy the alternative media we have at our disposal, within days we can alert organizations throughout the world working on issues pertaining to the environment, and get them to spread the word within their countries, the nature and dealings and the petty profit that lures leading Goan 'Industrialists' to rape their own earth, and terrorize its inhabitants.

When we start doing this, it is known as Peoples' Social Responsibility. We don't even have to pay someone like Sujay Gupta to do this, it's free...

Be the change Timblo, be the change. I am even tempted to ask you to send me your email ID. At a substantial consultative fee, I'll put together a think tank to help you and your mining friends to diversify your business interests, show you how you can regenerate what you have destroyed while yet understanding the true nature of investment and the requisite patience needed, substantively ease your mining activities, and. lest we forget, make money for yourself and others who work for you. But, more importantly, also show you how to allow for the Timblo name to be recorded for the good it did beyond raping the earth. If you understand this, you understand the true nature of being an 'Industrialist' who strives in this difficult age we live in, to actually be the change we all want. You will also understand what 'corporate social responsibility' really is.

Hartman de Souza

Moira Public Protest Protest against Fomentos Rs.500/- crore defamation suit

According to the message received from Floriano Lobo from Moira there will be public protest meeting against Fomento mining company filing defamation suit of Rs.500/- crore against Sebastian Rodrigues for his online writings exposing mining industry at http://www.mandgoa.blogspot.com/.

Meet that is going to be held on Monday, February 02, 2009 at Moira Club, Moira, Bardez, Goa at 4.00 pm will also protest against open cast mining in Goa.

Members of public are invited to participate in the meeting and express their support to the movement against mining in Goa. Floriano has requested those willing to participate in the meet to come along with black Flags.

Lisa Noronha contributes Rs.1000/- towards fighting defamation case at Calcutta High Court

Lisa Noronha contributed Rs.1000/- towards fighting defamation case at Calcutta High Court against Sebastian Rodrigues by Goa's Fomento mining company. GAKUVED gratefully aknowledges her contribution as well as her good wishes.

Fomentos gets interim order extended for 10 more weeks from Calcutta High Court

GA No. 4142 of 2008

CS No. 265 of 2008

IN THE HIGH COURT OF AT CALCUTTA
Ordinary Original Civil Jurisdiction
ORIGINAL SIDE



SOCIEDADE DE FOMENTO INDUSTRIAL, PVT, LTD.

Versus

Sebastian alias SEBI RODRIGUES



For the Petitioner : Mr. Hirak Mitra, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Soumen Sen, Adv.
Mr. Debdatta Sen, Adv.


BEFORE:
The Hon’ble JUSTICE PATHERYA
Date: 12th January 2009


None appears on behalf of the respondent inspite of service.

The respondent has knowledge of the order passed will appear from the material namely Reliefs in the Plaint set out on Website and in the electronic media. Accordingly directions given for filing affidavits.

Affidavit-in-Opposition be filed within three weeks from date; reply, if any, thereto be filed within two weeks thereafter. Matter to appear in the list six weeks hence.

Interim order granted is extended for a period of 10 weeks from date. Petitioner is directed to communicate this order to the respondent-defendant. Liberty is given to the petitioner to effect service through special messenger cost thereof be borne by the petitioner.

All the parties concerned to act on a signed Xerox copy of this order on the usual undertakings.


Sd/-

Patherya (J)

Goa Su-Raj Party contributes Rs1000/-

Goa Su-Raj Party has contributed Rs.1000/- towards litigation costs in defamation case filed by Fomento mining company against Sebastian Rodrigues at Calcutta High Court or his online writing at www.mandgoa.blogspot.com

Rs.5000/- more from Venantius J Pinto

GAKUVED gratefully acknowledges Rs.5000/- more from Venantius J Pinto. He had earlier contributed Rs.5014/-. His total contribution towards the cost of ligation involved in Rs.500 crore defamation suit against Sebastian Rodrigues by Fomento mining company stand at Rs 10014/-.

Contribution from Morpilla Bachav Samiti

Morpilla Bachav Samiti has contributed Rs. 500/- towards litigation costs for defamation case against Sebastian Rodrigues at Calcutta High Court by Fomento mining company. GAKUVED gratefully acknowledges the contribution.