The Goan government has submitted a miscellaneous civil application to the High Court of Bombay, requesting an extension of the deadline for designating the areas around the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve.

In a conversation with the press, Advocate General Devidas Pangam of Goa stated that the application was submitted to the Goa bench on Friday. This action was taken because the court's established deadline is set to expire on October 24.

The State Government has requested an extension of the deadline without specifying a specific timeframe, as mentioned by Devidas Pangam. Additionally, he noted that the state intends to expedite the hearing of the application and has scheduled it for October 23.

Goa Foundation, a local non-governmental organization (NGO), had initiated a public interest litigation (PIL) with the aim of obtaining court orders instructing the State Government to declare the state's tiger reserves in accordance with the National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) request.

In its order dated July 24, the Court had instructed the Government to designate the areas around Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary as a tiger reserve within a three-month timeframe. In response to this, the state subsequently filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to invalidate this order.

On September 25, the Supreme Court declined to temporarily suspend the High Court's order and issued notices to various parties involved, including the Goa Foundation, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Goa State Board for Wildlife, and the State Chief Wildlife Warden.