Team Herald
PANJIM: The Goa government is set to bypass legislative procedures to pass five Bills, including a controversial amendment to the Code of Comunidades, during the final day of the shortest Assembly session. The amendment is poised to impose stringent restrictions on the use of Comunidade land, effectively banning any deviation from its original purpose.
The Bills, which will be fast-tracked through the House by suspending critical rules—141, 143, and 156, pertaining to the introduction, consideration, and passage of Bills—are being rushed without any debate. This decision has triggered outrage from Opposition members, who have accused the government of undermining democratic norms. “The government is trying to bulldoze these Bills without any discussion, disrespecting the very foundation of our democracy,” they said.
The contentious Ordinance on the Code of Comunidades, introduced in October 2024 after Cabinet approval, is now being converted into law in this Assembly session. If passed, it will grant the Administrator of Comunidades unprecedented authority to impose restraining orders on land use. Under this new law, no authority—including the Town and Country Planning Department, Planning and Development Authority, Municipal Councils, Village Panchayats, or the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP)—will be able to issue permissions, clearances, or No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for any land in question.
In addition to this highly contentious measure, the government plans to introduce and pass three more Bills, including the ‘Goa Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Amendment Bill.’ This Bill seeks to revive and extend provisional registrations for clinical establishments, following the government’s withdrawal of a similar amendment in August 2023.
Further, the Goa VAT (Amendment) Bill 2025, the Goa Goods and Services Tax (GST) (Amendment) Bill 2025, and the Goa Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2025 are also set to be introduced, all during the same legislative session.
In a related move, the government is expected to withdraw the Goa Media Persons and Media Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Bill, 2022, which sought to protect journalists from violence. The bill, introduced during the monsoon session of 2022, appears to have been shelved without
explanation.