The Goa State Hu-man Rights Commission (GHRC) on Monday set aside an eviction notice is-sued by the Socorro Village Panchayat to the family of a man accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old child, holding that the no-tice was ‘bad in law’ and violated basic principles of due process.
The two-member Com-mission comprising offi-ciating Chairperson Des-mond D’Costa and Member Pramod V Kamat, acting on a suo motu cognisance of a news report published in O Heraldo titled “Eviction
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notice to accused’s fam-ily raises human rights concerns.” In its order dated De-cember 25, 2025, ruled that the eviction notice dated December 24, 2025 had no legal sanctity un-der the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, as it was issued with-out any lawful inquiry or adjudication.
The Commission ob-served that the Socorro village panchayat had acted beyond its authority.
The Commission flagged the panchayat issuing the no tice solely on the basis of allegations against one individual, thereby infringing upon the rights of his family members, who were neither accused nor convicted of any offence. Directing immediate corrective action, the GHRC ordered the Socorro Village Panchayat to remove the eviction notice which had been pasted on the door of the house occupied by the ac cused and his family within next 48 hours. The panchayat was also instructed to submit an action-taken report to the Com mission latest by January 27, 2026, in compliance with Section 18(e) of the Protection of Human Rights Act. The eviction notice was issued in the wake of public out rage following the arrest of the accused, a driver by profes sion, who had reportedly transported children, including the victim, to school. Emphasising the rule of law, the GHRC stated that local self-governing bodies cannot act on public sentiment or media pressure and must strictly adhere to established legal procedures even in cases involving serious and sensitive allegations.
