[Goanet] An appeal from Claude Alvares - Goa Foundation
Cecil Pinto has posted the appeal for the benefit of our group. I have noted the following observation: The problem arose after the hearings in the Supreme Court in that matter were completed. Promptly within the month we became subject to a formal inquiry conducted by the income tax which wanted to know from where we had received the money to pay KKV (who admittedly is one of India's most highly paid counsel). We sent them our audited accounts and they shut up. As members would have noticed from my previous postings, I have been wondering if the NGOs accept the same level of transparency as they wish others to be exposed to. I am happy to know that Goa Foundation is an exception in this case. However, the audited accounts are not posted on the website of Goa Foundation. Are the audited accounts available anywhere else? Best regards, U. G. Barad
Re: [Goanet] An appeal from Claude Alvares - Goa Foundation
I have and I am boastful that I have 9 PILs in the High Court of Bombay at Goa, one of which even went to the Supreme Court in Delhi.[ and for this, help came from Ben Antao, a good friend of GSRP and FL.] I have, in all these petitions, appeared in person to save on the thousands and lacs of rupees that Advocates will take. The HC has given me Amicus Curae in three of these PILs amongst which Adv. Norma Alvares was one in the Calapur Saltpan Petition, by which the calapur saltpans have been saved. In the Garbage petition, it was Mahesh Sonak and in yet one other petition it was Adv. John Abreu Lobo. The HC of Bombay at Goa even asked the three Respondent Hotels to Pay me Rs. 5000/- each towards my incurred expenses in WP236/2007 against Calypso, Farenheit and Strela do Mar. [Calangute]. Incidentally Rs 4 cr worth of demolitions has taken place w.r.t. Calypso because I refused to be paid-off. I had to file fresh WP 580/2009 against the 3 hotels to challenged the orders w.r.t. these three hotels by GCZMA [Michael D'Souza] regularizing all their other blatant violations. But somehow, they found the loophole to tell me that I cannot file one petition to challenge three different orders, That I file three different petitons or be dismissed. Therefore I have withdrawn WP580/2009 intending to file 3 different petitions in the HC of Bombay at Goa. However, I am contemplating of approaching NGT with my gievances, so help me GOA. Likewise, fighting PILs has taken it's toll on me and presently I am tired of fighting on the fringes. Talking to Justice Shah himself when he came to Goa was a pleasure, though. More than this, I have put a political foundation in non-corrosive concrete for Goa and Goans in GSRP. All I want is a sincere commitment from Goans, not to me, but to their Goa, and all will be fine. I would have willingly helped GF with anything to spare that will only increase inflation. Unfortunately, the plate is lean and there is nothing whatsoever to spare. However, it will be good to know who signs the cheques for GF. floriano goasuraj 9890470896 PS: Matias Vaz of Santa Cruz, more specifically known as Maureen Printers, used to be the Treasurer of GF, but he was not signing the cheques as the TREASURER of GF. So, he, as GSRP's VP was asked to resign as the Treasurer or sort out the problem. And we believe that he did. - Original Message - From: Cecil Pinto cecilpi...@gmail.com To: goanet goa...@goanet.org Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2013 10:27 AM Subject: [Goanet] An appeal from Claude Alvares - Goa Foundation I found the appeal below at: https://www.facebook.com/GoaFoundation As you must be knowing Goa Foundation has been fighting the valiant fight to save Goa from the evil greedy designs of the mining lobby. I think the time has come for us to strengthen Claude's hands by donating whatever amount we can. - Yes, I have to finally admit, we need some money. The Supreme Court case in Delhi is taking a toll on our already stretched finances and unlike mining companies we do not own any iron ore mines! Fighting PILs, like we do, causes a lot of consternation among those critical of our actions. Goa CM once told the press we need to know how these people can fight their cases in the Supreme Court. He said that when he filed a petition in the Supreme Court against Congress politician, Mauvin Godinho, he had to shell out 10-12 lakhs. [It would have been nice if he had told us where he got the 10-12 lakhs.] And no lawyer is going to argue a case for a politician free of cost. In an interesting case in which we were involved (challenging the construction of the Grand Hyatt in Goa, where the principal opponents were Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa: remember the 2G scam accused?), we found we were bereft of counsel because our usual counsel, Indira Jaising, had accepted the offer to become Addl Solicitor General of India. What to do? So we asked K K Venugopal whom we had met when he was awarded the Padma Bhushan (as Norma Alvares had received her Padma Sri at the same time). KKV told us he would fight our cases without charge when needed. So when Indira opted out, we went to KKV. Even though some 8 years had passed since he had made the offer, we met him and he spontaneously agreed. The problem arose after the hearings in the Supreme Court in that matter were completed. Promptly within the month we became subject to a formal inquiry conducted by the income tax which wanted to know from where we had received the money to pay KKV (who admittedly is one of India's most highly paid counsel). We sent them our audited accounts and they shut up. But they could have simply asked KKV and he would have told them he argued the matter free of cost (pro bono). Lawyers still do that in Delhi for genuine PIL matters. But look at the reach of our opponents in that case! Now we have the same issue being made about the present
[Goanet] An appeal from Claude Alvares - Goa Foundation
I found the appeal below at: https://www.facebook.com/GoaFoundation As you must be knowing Goa Foundation has been fighting the valiant fight to save Goa from the evil greedy designs of the mining lobby. I think the time has come for us to strengthen Claude's hands by donating whatever amount we can. - Yes, I have to finally admit, we need some money. The Supreme Court case in Delhi is taking a toll on our already stretched finances and unlike mining companies we do not own any iron ore mines! Fighting PILs, like we do, causes a lot of consternation among those critical of our actions. Goa CM once told the press we need to know how these people can fight their cases in the Supreme Court. He said that when he filed a petition in the Supreme Court against Congress politician, Mauvin Godinho, he had to shell out 10-12 lakhs. [It would have been nice if he had told us where he got the 10-12 lakhs.] And no lawyer is going to argue a case for a politician free of cost. In an interesting case in which we were involved (challenging the construction of the Grand Hyatt in Goa, where the principal opponents were Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa: remember the 2G scam accused?), we found we were bereft of counsel because our usual counsel, Indira Jaising, had accepted the offer to become Addl Solicitor General of India. What to do? So we asked K K Venugopal whom we had met when he was awarded the Padma Bhushan (as Norma Alvares had received her Padma Sri at the same time). KKV told us he would fight our cases without charge when needed. So when Indira opted out, we went to KKV. Even though some 8 years had passed since he had made the offer, we met him and he spontaneously agreed. The problem arose after the hearings in the Supreme Court in that matter were completed. Promptly within the month we became subject to a formal inquiry conducted by the income tax which wanted to know from where we had received the money to pay KKV (who admittedly is one of India's most highly paid counsel). We sent them our audited accounts and they shut up. But they could have simply asked KKV and he would have told them he argued the matter free of cost (pro bono). Lawyers still do that in Delhi for genuine PIL matters. But look at the reach of our opponents in that case! Now we have the same issue being made about the present mining case. How could we have filed this petition which has deprived the govt of some 1500 crores? The hidden charge is we are being financed by opposition parties. In the Supreme Court, ranged against us (and Goa's environment) are India's front-ranking lawyers. Mercifully, the truth is always free. You pay lawyers because you want to hide it. Prashant Bhushan has politely declined even talking of fees in the matter since this is a PIL and he is well aware of the work of the Goa Foundation. [Several other Delhi lawyers appear pro bono (free) for the Goa Foundation. They include Sanjay Parikh, Raj Panjwani, Ritwick Dutta (with his associates Rahul and Parul) and Anita Shenoy.] So what do we need money for? Travel up and down from Delhi, that's all. Air tkts now average 10-15K one way. Friends in Delhi look after us so we don't have to stay in hotels. So if you have some additional cash which is doing nothing but adding to inflation -- or worse, might someday be eaten by termites -- send it to us for use. This is the mother of all environment battles Goa and Goans are fighting, in order to protect ourselves long term protection from an industry which believes solely in dig and sell and which wants to convert this most priceless and astonishingly green piece of earth into a replica of the barren and cratered face of the moon. If you write in, we can send you the Goa Foundation bank information. -- Please contact Goa Foundation directly at: Phone: 0832 226 3305 Email: goafoundat...@gmail.com Website: http://goafoundation.org/ Cheers! Cecil =