Vijai Sardesai demands accountability for green cess collection failures in Goa

Porvorim: Fartoda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Wednesday demanded action against govt officers for failing to collect green cess. Sardesai said that in the last monsoon session, he raised the issue of govt collecting green cess from Jindal, etc.
“Subsequently, I wrote to the environment minister in Nov 2024. A copy of this letter is available in the unstarred LAQ 129,” he said.
Stating that govt hasn’t taken any action, he asked for file notes and firm action. Sardesai added, “Jindal went to the high court and got an order in his favour.”
“Your pollution control board didn't challenge the verdict in Supreme Court. In Aug 2022, govt lawyer Joaquim Godinho gave a legal opinion that the judgement should be challenged. I once again filed an LAQ in Feb 2025. Subsequently, the pollution control board woke up almost after 2 years and sought a legal opinion from Manish Salkar, a high court advocate, in March 2025,” he said.
He said that Salkar agreed that the order should have been challenged, but the time was barred. “Who is responsible for causing loss to the state exchequer, and what action would the minister take against all the officials involved? I want a concrete assurance from the minister. I will follow up aggressively,” Sardesai said.