Margao: Former bureaucrat Elvis Gomes, a vocal opponent of smart electricity meters, said on Friday that govt cannot use the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) order to justify the forcible or coercive installation of smart meters.Responding to the GHRC ruling that the rollout does not violate human rights, Gomes said the decision had disappointed domestic consumers. He noted that no individual or organisation had originally approached the commission alleging a human rights violation; instead, the GHRC took suo motu cognisance based on media reports and began proceedings.Gomes also said those who raised serious concerns about the manner in which the rollout was being implemented were not allowed to intervene directly before the commission. “We were instead directed to place our submissions before the amicus curiae,” he said.He argued that the finding of no human rights violation should be treated as separate from any observation that the rollout could continue. “Having answered that question in the negative, the commission ought to have stopped there,” he said, adding that the GHRC was not called upon to grant administrative clearance for the rollout.Gomes further said govt’s suspension of the rollout was unrelated to the matter pending before the GHRC.
