New Delhi, Feb 19 The Supreme Court on Thursday took note of the missing record of proceedings from the case files before it and directed its secretary general to hold a fact-finding inquiry into the matter.
While hearing a case related to a proposed tiger reserve in Goa, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi noted that its order dated September 8, 2025, in the matter was missing from the case file.
The bench observed that it has become common for the record of proceedings to be missing from the paperbooks.
"It seems to be a deliberate attempt for some obvious reasons," the bench said.
"The secretary general is directed to hold a fact-finding inquiry and submit a report to the Chief Justice of India on the administrative side," it said.
The bench was hearing a plea challenging a July 2023 order of the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, which asked the state to notify the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas as a tiger reserve within three months.
During the hearing on Thursday, the bench noted that the apex court had said on September 8, 2025, that it would be appropriate if a Central Empowered Committee (CEC) examined the issue and submitted a report before it.
While asking the CEC to examine the issue and submit a report within six weeks, the top court had said the committee would give a hearing to all stakeholders, including the state government and the writ petitioner before the high court.
On Thursday, the bench noted that the CEC has submitted its report.
It granted two weeks to the respondents, including NGO Goa Foundation, to place on record their viewpoint, if any.
Spread over 208 sq km, the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the northeastern part of Goa, adjoining Karnataka.
The high court had delivered the verdict on a plea filed by the Goa Foundation, which sought direction to the state government to notify tiger reserves of the state as requested by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The high court had directed the state government to take necessary steps to prepare a tiger conservation plan as contemplated by the Wildlife Protection Act, and to forward the same to the NTCA within three months of notifying the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and other areas as a tiger reserve.
