PANAJI: The state government on Wednesday asked the high court of Bombay at Goa for more time to clarify the term “liberal tourism”. The high court adjourned the matter to Monday.
The high court on Monday directed the state government to clarify “on paper” the term as stated in the minutes of the last meeting, the state’s Expert Committee on Covid where it was unanimously decided against permitting “liberal tourism” under the present circumstances.
At the same meeting, the expert committee chaired by dean of Goa Medical College, Dr S Bandekar, unanimously decided that all fully vaccinated persons should be allowed to enter Goa without a Covid-19 negative certificate.
The state is seeking the court’s nod for permitting fully vaccinated persons entry to Goa without a Covid-19 negative test certificate, and the court said there shouldn't be conflict with the expert committee.
Stating that there “should not be any ambiguity”, the high court on Monday directed the state government to submit an affidavit filed by either the health secretary or member secretary of the Expert Committee bringing clarity to the term “liberal tourism”.
The division bench also asked the government to state whether it wants to permit entry to all fully vaccinated persons without restrictions and asked how it will differentiate between a tourist and liberal tourist.
TOI had earlier reported that advocate general Devidas Pangam said that the term “liberal tourism” is used in context of activities, and would mean to return to the situation as it was before the Covid pandemic, when casinos and hotels were open.
