The Supreme Court may have disposed the Special Economic Zone cases that it had been hearing, after the understanding between the government and the SEZ promoters. But is it a good deal for the State? It’s true that Goa will now be able to get back the land that has remained locked up with the SEZ promoters for the past decade, which will make more area available for industrial development, but that comes at a price. The government has come to an understanding with the promoters – an agreement accepted by the Supreme Court – to pay them Rs 256 crore to return the 3 lakh sq metres of land that had been sold to them. That’s a huge price to pay for getting back the land that the promoters had paid approximately Rs 108 crore for when it had been allotted to them.
But that’s not all. While deciding to pay off the Special Economic Zone promoters, the cabinet also decided to drop the case of corruption that had been filed with the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Vigilance Department, and where a trio of opposition politicians was being questioned for their involvement in the allotment of land. In 2010 the High Court of Bombay at Goa had set aside the allotment of land to the SEZ promoters and termed it illegal. The promoters had then approached the Supreme Court that had suggested that the State and the investors come to an agreement, which they have now done and the petition in the Apex Court now stands disposed.
Herald has in this column said in the past few months that paying the SEZ promoters such a large amount to unlock the land is not a good deal. It reiterates this and also calls in question the wisdom of the government in dropping the case in the Vigilance Department. The SEZ Virodhi Manch, that has fought this case tirelessly, has already raised its protest against both decisions of the government – paying off the promoters and dropping the vigilance cases – and even suggested that the money to be paid to the promoters should be by those involved in the alleged illegal allotment of land.
Interestingly, Goa Forward Party, an ally of the government that has three ministers in the cabinet that decided to drop the vigilance case, has questioned the Congress silence in decision to drop the case. Congress, as expected, responded to say it never considered that there was any corruption in the case. But politics aside, it is the tax payers’ money that is going to be paid to the SEZ promoters to free up the land and it is a huge price to pay for a State whose coffers are not ringing with the cash coming in. This has been a decision taken without any discussion whatsoever.
The final answer to the SEZ imbroglio, as seen from the government decision, is that the promoters get paid, those involved in the illegal allotment of land go free and the people’s money has been used to make available more land for industry. Not a good deal at all, and not something that can lead to the people reposing their confidence in the government. But since the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the NGOs not closed by the Supreme Court, the problem has not been settled. The hearings on the PILs will continue in October and it is only when these cases come to a close that the SEZ issue in Goa will end. The government’s hopes of a quick resolution to the imbroglio, may not happen, as those who have filed the PILs in the court are unlikely to give up the fight.
