27 Sep 2021  |   06:12am IST

Congress demands inquiry into large scale fraudulent land deals

Says land records such as Form I & XIV are misused to pass them off as title documents thereby resulting in sale of vast tracts of land to mostly Delhi-based and other outside buyers

Team Herald

PANJIM: The opposition Congress on Sunday demanded an inquiry by Judicial Commission into the large scale fraudulent land deals getting approvals under the BJP government on the basis of gross misuse of land records.

Addressing media persons at the Congress House, here, Congress manifesto committee co-chairman Elvis Gomes said that land records such as Form I & XIV are misused to pass them off as title documents thereby resulting in sale of vast tracts of land to mostly Delhi-based and other outside buyers. 

Gomes likened land sale transactions to that of ‘flea market’ for the simplicity with which, on the basis of a mere Form I and XIV land could be sold. He said that it was a direct attack on ‘Goykarponn’ and identity of Goans. 

Giving an example of land transactions in the Pernem taluka alone, Gomes accompanied by Congress leaders from Pernem, Vithu Morajkar, Dilip Parab and Pernem Block Congress president Rudresh Deshprabhu alleged that transactions of land sale had risen to menacing proportions with nearly 5000 land deals having taken place in a few years most of them on the basis of bogus documents. 

“Use of bogus land records or mere Form I and XIV is now a rule rather than an exception”, Gomes said demanding appointment of a Judicial Commission to go into bogus land deals to protect the identity of Goa.

Citing an example of Dhargalim village in Pernem taluka, Gomes said that the modus operandi adopted was to threaten the poor farmers with the use of a weapon called land acquisition to force them to sell their land to private buyers. 

“The past instances of poor compensation in land acquisitions when weighed against tempting offers by land mafia compel farmers to part with their lands and go for mutation of land records. Thereafter the land mafia having nexus with ministers and officers go for sale deeds on the basis of such inadmissible documents, thus committing fraud on the people which deserves to be punished. Over 60% of farmers who lost land to Mopa airport, sports city, electronic city, link road to airport, national highway expansion etc have not been paid any compensation,” Gomes claimed citing cases of major land deals that were in the suspect list since much of the land was also belonging to government. 

Gomes said that the government should review sale deeds of all such land transactions by placing the onus to prove title on the seller and buyer.

“Form I and XIV is not a title document. When a suspicion is raised, the government must investigate”, said Gomes adding that complaints by people were not even getting an acknowledgment from the government.