Do the powerful and the politically connected have magical powers in Goa? As the saga of the purchase of land by Leading Hotels for their ambitious and increasingly evidently audacious golf course and villa project, has gone through the grind of the courts and facing ground level examination by the deputy collector, it appears that the land sold to them by the Khalaps was not theirs. That is the sheer magic of the Tiracol deal.
If the documents shown as evidence by the advocate of the tenants Benny Nazareth, to the Deputy Collector, inquiring into the status of the lands ostensibly bought by Leading Hotels carry their course and are worth their weight in importance, we are staring at both a piquant but a serious situation. There is clear indication that State land was palmed off as private land for a private golf course project which will dispossess the right of the tenants to live on and off that land.
On March 31 this year, the Bombay High Court while delivering its verdict on a PIL filed by St Anthony’s Mundkar and Tenant Association (SATMA) and Goa Foundation on the all important issue of Land bought by Leading Hotels being tenanted and not fit for sale or use, ordered Deputy Collector of Dharbandora Agnelo Fernandes to hold an inquiry into the case within five months. The cross-examination of Khalap was being done as a part of the proceedings of this inquiry.
Advocate Nazareth cross-examined Kashinath Khalap of the family and produced documents related to the history of the legal status of the Tiracol land from the year 1813. Khalap admitted that as per the documents produced by Mr Nazareth, the Tiracol property was owned by the State and that the Khalaps had paid a rent of 828 xerafins to the government.
The story gets even more interesting. Khalap also admitted – and obviously- that he did not have any documents to establish ownership of the properties. That’s because the lands did not belong to his family when he sold them to Leading Hotels.
He also admitted that as per the documents produced and conditions stipulated therein, his ancestors were expressly not entitled “to sell, transfer, gift, sublet or in any other manner alienate the property without express permission of the state.” He further admitted that he and his family had not sought any permission, as required, from the State at the time of executing the sale deeds. (The Khalap family signed over the Tiracol lands to Leading Hotels for a total sum of Rs 33 crores).
The story gets even more bizarre. Also according to the documents produced by Nazareth, there was a dispute between the Khalaps themselves due to which the property was placed in the hands of the court receiver on June 11, 1908 and Khalap had no documents to prove that the property was transferred back to the family from the court receiver. The property, one may add and as we know now, was not owned by the Khalaps who were rent payers
These proceedings in the ‘court’ of the Deputy Collector late last week assume significance because for the last 10 years, the ownership of the land was not mentioned in any documents nor was it produced in any court proceedings.
The Bombay High Court, in its March verdict, quashed and set aside all tenancy free certificates obtained for the purpose of constructing the controversial Rs 500 crore golf course at Tiracol, and prohibited construction activity till an inquiry is conducted in the matter.
The Court castigated the deputy collector, who had granted the certificates to Leading Hotels Ltd, (to certify that the lands were not tenanted) for not examining the tenancy issue as per the law, and ordered that the NOC granted by the town planning authorities and the sanad granted by the collector be kept in abeyance until after the inquiry.The High Court said it cannot allow agrarian reform legislations like the Agricultural Tenancy Act 1964 and Land Use Act to be defeated if the subject lands are in fact tenanted.
It is clear that with the deposition of Shetye and his admission, the Khalaps will have no pillar left to hold up the argument that the sale of lands sold to Leading Hotels was legit. Conversely, Leading Hotels have very little in evidence to prove that their purchase was permissible in the light of these developments. The legitimacy of the entire project, therefore, appears to be in tatters, though the final conclusion on this will be pending till the conclusion of the arguments and the Deputy Collector’s final report.
