PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Wednesday directed the Arpora-Nagoa village panchayat to file an affidavit regarding the status of show cause notices issued to 45 persons for illegal land-filling and constructions and why demolition were orders not executed till date.
While hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition by two lawyers Chahit Bansal and Navkaran Singh, the Court asked the village panchayat to file an affidavit explaining the status of the 42 notices referred in the petition. The village panchayat must explain why these notices have not been disposed of till date and also indicate the timeline within which such notices will be disposed of.
The Court observed that most of the show cause notices for alleged illegal land-filling and construction were issued on September 30, 2023 and few of these notices were issued on December 28, 2023 and February 5, 2024.
Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, Adv Rohit Bras De Sa stated that demolition orders have been issued only in about 13 cases by the Arpora-Nagoa village panchayat. He however pointed out that even these demolitions have not been executed by the village panchayat till date.
Additional government Advocate Deep Shirodkar told the Court that the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department will also verify the status of illegal land-filling and if there is illegal land-filling then the TCP Department will inform the Court the timeline within which action will be initiated and completed.
The concerned officials from the TCP department must file an affidavit by the next date on this issue, the Court said and posted the matter for further hearing on April 30.
After two lawyers from Assagao filed PIL writ petition against rampant illegal land-filling and constructions in September last year, the village panchayat woke up and issued show cause notices to as many as 45 structures under Section 64 (J) and 82 of Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.
