PANJIM: The demolition of Curlies restaurant at Anjuna will start at 7 am on September 9. The order was issued after the National Green Tribunal dismissed the plea of its owner challenging the order of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority, to demolish the structure on account of various violations. (See box)
The NGT order comes as a setback for the owner as Curlies has been in the news following the death of BJP leader Sonali Phogat.
The Curlies owner, who was arrested in connection with the drug seizure connected to Phogat at Anjuna, was granted conditional bail by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Court, Mapusa on Wednesday.
The NGT dismissed the plea of the property owners reaffirming the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) and High Court orders that the construction has been extended in a No Development Zone (NDZ) and that the tribunal finds no merit in the appeal.
The NGT has upheld the order of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) dated July 21, 2016, ordering the demolition of the illegal structure at Curlies restaurant and restoring the land back to its original status.
The Curlies owner failed in his attempts to stop the demolition by appealing against the GCZMA order in High Court and later in the Supreme Court. The owner had recently challenged the High Court order before the NGT.
Dismissing the plea, the NGT in its order said, “The nature of structure as at present is a permanent construction, beyond the original temporary construction limited to Survey No. 42/10.”
“Fresh construction has been raised in replacement of original one for commercial purposes, without requisite permission in No Development Zone. We thus do not find any merit in the appeal which is accordingly dismissed,” it said.
It may be recalled that the Curlies owner was arrested in 2017 as he and the restaurant waiters were found in possession of psychotropic drugs. Currently, the Curlies owner is facing similar charges under provisions of the NDPS Act in the Phogat death case and has been granted conditional bail.
THE CASE POINTS
8Original complainants were Kashinath Shetye along with one Sagardeep Sirsaicar
8Inquiry Committee of the GCZMA and Bardez Deputy Collector submitted its report recommending the GCZMA withdraw the proceedings
8Shetye approached NGT on the alleged illegal construction and GCZMA’s go-slow approach
8On NGT’s direction, GCZMA’s experts Antonio Mascarenhas and Raghunath Dhume conducted an inspection where commercial activities were noted in the NDZ – a sea wall of concrete without permissions from the competent authorities in gross violation of CRZ 2011 rules
8Curlies provided evidence of the existence of structures prior to 1991
8 Shetye showed that only a small structure existed in the property which was also removed
8Owners of Curlies could not produce licences, NOCs, or permissions pertaining to electricity connection, bar licence, trade licence of the panchayat, commercial tax registration, shops, and establishment licence or prove existence of structures pre 1991
8July 20, 2016: The GCZMA then ordered demolition, withdrawal of permissions, and restoration of the land to the original state
CURLIES’ DIARY OF CONTROVERSIES
8Anjuna Caisua Panchayat has been fighting a battle against the shack for the last few years for not having a valid trade licence from the panchayat to operate the shack
8A case of forging and altering govt records to save the illegal structure from demolition was filed by activists at various agencies, including Crime Branch and the State Vigilance Department
8Complaint also filed by Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against deputy collector and land survey officers, etc, for forging govt records to help legalise the illegal structure
