Goa’s Legislative Assembly has been gripped in recent weeks by heated debates over two controversial Bills that reshape the rules of property ownership in the state. In a region where land is often the most contentious issue, the legislation has turned political discourse into a battlefield.
The first law, Goa Legislative Diploma No. 2070 (Amendment) Act, 2025, allows individuals who built unauthorised houses on comunidade land before February 28, 2014, to regularise their encroachments. Beneficiaries can claim ownership of up to 300 square metres, covering the plinth and an additional two-metre buffer zone. The Bill, passed despite strong opposition protests that twice forced adjournments of the House, is being pitched as a “humanitarian gesture” for landless persons, defined as residents who have lived in Goa for at least 15 years without owning other property.
A contentious clause requires comunidade consent for regularisation, but if no response is received within 30 days, or if refusal is deemed “unreasonable,” consent will be automatically granted.
The second legislation, the Goa Escheats, Forfeiture and Bona Vacantia Act, 2024, empowers the state to claim properties of individuals who die without legal heirs. While the Bill was passed last year, its rules came into effect only last month. Under the framework, if no claimants come forward within three months of a “summary inquiry,” such properties may be forfeited to the government. Critics argue that vague definitions within the Act open the door to misuse.
The government maintains that both laws are designed to provide legal security to long-term residents and prevent illegal transactions of heirless properties. Detractors, however, see the changes as a restructuring of Goa’s centuries-old land ownership patterns, raising fears of community disempowerment under the guise of administrative efficiency.