Team Herald
MARGAO: Days before the demolition of Silver Sands Hotel, Sanjeev Joglekar, the officer on Special Duty to the Chairman of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), has accepted an application by one Sebestiao Cardozo and has forwarded the application to the Attorney General for a his legal opinion.
Interestingly, the decision was taken during the GCZMA board meeting on Tuesday even though the matter was not on the agenda or recorded in the minutes, and in the absence of the Chairman of GCZMA.
In response, Judith Almeida, Secretary of the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum has filed a complaint against what she called the “arbitrary grant of hearing” to Cardozo without issuing any notice to the complainant, CCCF.
She further stated in her letter that she was present before the GCZMA to assail two other matters for which she had received personal hearing notices. She said that she was surprised when immediately after the hearing in these matters were concluded, OSD Joglekar who was conducting the meeting called for hearing of the Silver Sand Hotel matter knowing all the facts.
“A serious objection is being raised at such an arbitrary manner in which a case is sought to be reheard or is this an attempt to sabotage the entire due process of law followed in the matter?” she asked.
Almeida alleged that this is a sinister attempt to delay the demolition which was scheduled on January 7. She said that Cardozo was well aware of the hearings which took place in the GCZMA, the order issued by GCZMA for demolition and the subsequent appeals before the NGT and the Supreme Court.
When contacted, Joglekar said that the lawyer of Cardozo was dealing with another case and was present in Court. “We have heard him but it’s not going to be a part of the minutes. He (applicant) wanted to speak so we allowed him. He filed a detailed application before us saying he is the owner of the property and he was not heard. I have to send the file for legal opinion; so I sent it to the Attorney General. After the AG gives an opinion, I will take a call,” he said
Joglekar said that he had submitted Form I & XIV and some other documents as proof of ownership. When asked that without a board decision and recording it in the minutes was it a correct procedure to send it to the AG, Joglekar replied stating that it (listening to the applicant) doesn’t mean anything.
Interestingly, no one is allowed in the conference room during the GCZMA hearings other than the parties related to the matters on the agenda. “How was Cardozo allowed to enter the conference room? Tomorrow anyone will barge in like this and disrupt the proceedings,” Almeida said.
