IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA CONTEMPT PETITION NO. 12 OF 2008 IN PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION WP NO. 20 OF 2007 MR. RAJAN P. PARRIKAR ... Petitioner Versus THE COMMISSIONER, CORPORATION FOR CITY OF PANAJI AND 6 ORS., ... Respondents Mr. John A. Lobo, Advocate as Amicus Curiae. Mr. A. F. Diniz, Advocate for Respondent nos. 1 and 2. Coram:- R. M. SAVANT, J. Date:- 16th December, 2009 ORAL ORDER This Petition is filed alleging contempt of the Order dated 23.04.2008, passed by the Division Bench of this Court in Public Interest Litigation Writ Petition no. 20 of 2007. The said Public Interest Litigation was filed against the Respondent-Municipal Corporation, seeking action to be taken by the Corporation against the encroachment on public streets and footpaths, enforcement of the public Orders pertaining to hygiene, sanitation, etc., and the misuse of public places. The said Writ Petition was disposed of by this Court by the said Order dated 23.04.2008. The said Order incorporated the statement made on behalf of the Respondent-Corporation by its Commissioner, inter alia, covering the various steps the Corporation has taken and proposes to take in the interest of the lives and health of the Citizens of the City of Panaji. The said Order records that a special cell has been set up by the Municipal Corporation for the enforcement of public Orders pertaining to hygiene, sanitation, etc., so that the grievances of the Citizens in respect of the aforesaid matters could be addressed expeditiously. The said Order also records that the contact numbers of the members of Enforcement Squad will be given due publicity so that the public can be entertained telephonically. The Order also records the various measures the Corporation intended to take in respect of the public urinance and toilets as also the Municipal gardens. 2. In view of the grievance made in the above Petition, the Corporation has filed as many as five affidavits of its Commissioner from time to time, the last of which has been tendered today in the Court which has been filed by the present Commissioner, Mr. Elvis Gomes. The said affidavits disclose the steps which have been taken by the Corporation from time to time in respect of the aforesaid matters. In view of the grievance made on behalf of the Petitioner by the Amicus Curiae on the last occasion as regards the encroachment of the public footpaths by mechanics on 18th June Road, Panaji, and the arterial roads surrounding it, the present affidavit has been filed dealing with the said issue. It has been mentioned in the said affidavit that action has been taken and the tools of the mechanics have even been confiscated and arrests have been made and the persons who have been arrested have been released by the concerned Court by levying fine as applicable under the Police Act. 3. Reading of the said affidavit filed on behalf of the Corporation, therefore, demonstrates that the Corporation has in fact been taking action from time to time. May be that the said action ultimately proves inadequate. To further solve the problems arising out of encroachments of public places, a joint meeting was held on 23.09.2009 to facilitate arrival at measures which could be more effective for the implementation of the Order of this Court dated 23.04.2008. At the said meeting, the following were present : 1. Elvis Gomes - Commissioner, Corporation of the City of Panaji. 2. Bosco Geroge - Superintendent of Police, North. 3. Gajanand Prabhudessai - SDPO, Tiswadi, Goa. 4. Francis Corte - Police Inspector, Panaji. 5. Ld. Adv. John A. Lobo 6. Ld. Adv. Agnelo F. Diniz It was decided to adopt the following measures : 1) An Enforcement Squad which has been constituted along with two Police Constables. This shall be responsible to clear footpaths within the city limits from all encroachments including unauthorised hawkers, squatters or repairers and other persons who may be illegally using footpaths. 2) Any goods/materials that may be used/kept by such persons on the footpaths shall be seized by the CCP with the assistance of the Police. 3) In case of repeat encroachments or persisting on footpaths, Police shall proceed under Section 34 of the Police Act. The CCP shall render all assistance to the Police on the matter. 4) The Enforcement Squad shall also patrol in the areas prone to defecation and urination etc. Such patrolling should be preferably done every morning to prevent any such nuisance especially along the river banks. 5) The Enforcement Squad shall also take action against parking of vehicles on footpaths other than designated areas for parking. For this purpose, the Enforcement Squad shall intimate the Polie Traffic Cell and the Police shall take action to find the relevant concerned persons and issue Challan. So also CCP shall use its powers to seize such vehicles wherever possible. 6) The Enforcement Squad shall also receive complaints from public and take action in the matter as set out in the Order. 7) The Enforcement Squad shall conduct patrolling in the city regularly. 8) The CCP shall give wide publicity of the names and telephone numbers of the persons of the Enforcement Squad for information of the general public or to air their grievances. 4. In view of the consensus arrived at between the parties and in view of the willingness of the Corporation as demonstrated by the affidavits filed by it and in terms of the statement made by the learned Counsel for the Corporation, Shri Diniz, that every effort would be made to implement the said measures whereby the Order dated 23.04.2008 passed by this Court in the said Public Interest Litigation Writ Petition to be implemented effectively, in my view, there is now no warrant to proceed against the Respondents in the contempt jurisdiction. The Contempt Petition is accordingly disposed of. 5. It is expected that in terms of the measures which have been formulated in the consensus in the meeting dated 23.09.2009, steps would be taken by the Corporation to implement the said measures whereby the Order dated 23.04.2008 could be effectively complied with. The Corporation is, therefore, directed to file a report every three months as regards the steps taken by it in respect of the matters which are mentioned in the Order dated 23.04.2008. Such a report is also contemplated by Para 4 of the Order dated 23.04.2008. The said report to be filed in the Registry of this Court by the 10th of the month in which the report is to be filed. The Petitioner and the Amicus Curiae, Shri Lobo, is granted the liberty to procure the said report from the Registry of this Court. 6. The learned Counsel Shri Diniz will provide the contact number of a Senior Officer of the Corporation to the Petitioner and Shri Lobo so as to enable the Petitioner and Shri Lobo to contact the said Officer in case of any difficulty. The Corporation is directed that as and when it receives complaints from the residents, the said complaints would be looked into expeditiously and the said aspect also to be mentioned in the report that would be filed in this Court. The first of such report shall be filed by 31.03.2010. 7. Contempt Petition is disposed of. R. M. SAVANT, J. arp/*