The Sesquicentennial Celebration of the Bombay High Court which was held at Goa on 12th November was planned and fixed without making any prior budget provision. This has been revealed in the information furnished by the Law department under the Right to Information Act.
The documents reveal that the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court had written to the Chief Minister of Goa as early as 18th July 2011 to allocate funds for the celebration but there was no file movement of that proposal. However the order sanctioning 50 lakhs from the contingency fund was issued by the Goa Government a mere 20 days before the one day celebration. The process of allocating the funds started only after the Law Secretary Mr. Pramod Kamat received a letter on 10th October from the Registrar of Bombay High Court at Goa, Ms. I.K.Jain virtually pleading that an amount of Rs 50 lakhs be sanctioned on top Priority for that one day celebration. This was followed by a letter faxed the next day to the Law Secretary by the Registrar General of the Bombay High Court Mr. S.B.Shukre expressing concern that in the absence of funds it would not be possible to make arrangements for the celebration. While asking the Law Secretary to move the government for an immediate release of 50 lakhs, the Registrar General in an apparent warning further stated in his letter that the progress in this regard was being monitored at the highest level. While seeking the 50 Lakhs the Bombay High Court at Goa sent the Goa Government a break up of the proposed expenditure of the 50 lakhs for the one day celebration. While 5 lakhs was proposed to be spent on Lunch, dinner and refreshments another 5 lakhs was towards Souvenirs and Mementos. Towards Hiring of chairs and tables was 2 lakhs while another 2 lakhs towards Invitation cards, Printing and Stationery. Another 1 lakh towards photography and videography while Rs 1.25 lakhs was proposed for expenditure on floral decoration and installing the shamiana. While the expected expenditure on Lodging and Boarding was 6 lakhs a whopping 15 lakhs was towards traveling expenses. Another 2 lakhs on Hiring of cars and A/c buses while 10.75 lakhs on arranging the function, seminar and cultural events. Interestingly in the application dated 7th October for 50 lakhs from the contingency fund the Registrar of Bombay High Court at Goa stated that the budget provision could not be made as the decision to hold the function was taken only recently. This stand is surprising as the records show that the Bombay High Court Chief Justice had written to the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat as early as 18th July regarding the function. The Registrar in the application also stated that there could not be any postponement as the program for 12th November had already been fixed. The documents also reveal that the Registrar of the Bombay High Court at Goa in another letter to the Chief Secretary asked that two suites be booked at the Goa Raj Bhavan for the Bombay High Court Chief Justice and for a former judge of the Supreme Court. Also sought were another 3 suites at Raj Bhavan for the accompanying officers. The Chief Secretary was further asked to make arrangement for another 20 a/c suites at the Circuit house from 10th Nov to 13th Nov for the dignitaries invited for the 12thNovember celebration. The file notings that the 50 lakhs were sanctioned by the Goa Government without any application of mind and with no documented justification on record as to how the 150 anniversary celebration of the Bombay High Court was of any relevance to Goa. Those 50 lakhs could have been judiciously used to improve the infrastructure of the sub-ordinate courts some of which are in a pathetic state. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------