In his sur-rejoinder affidavit, Taneja pointed out: “In fact, Respondent No 1 has only been recently impleaded in the said matter, and it is recorded in its order that the Answering Respondent was not even served with the copy of the Impleadment Application.”
Local residents are, however, relieved that Goa Foundation has legally challenged the project and are hopeful the pending requirement of Environmental Clearance (EC) will delay the commencement of any work. Still, the effort to procure a temporary electricity connection caught them off guard.
“We were surprised to see the Electricity Department staff come along with the police to give them temporary connection when the judges of the Bombay High Court at Goa are expected to pass their judgment on the PIL Writ Petition No 1884/2024 on July 31,” said a visibly upset local, Lawrence Dias.
The Electricity Department claims due process was followed. Rahul Shirvadkar, Junior Engineer at the Chicalim Sub Division, stated: “The department had every right to give Bhutani the temporary connection as they met all parameters.”
He further clarified: “Bhutani has permission from the Panchayat of Sancoale for their project and that is one of the statutory prerequisites for us. However, since the people were adamant and wanted us to wait for the High Court order scheduled for the end of this month, we decided to hold back.”
According to documents, M/s Parmesh Construction Co Ltd, promoters of Bhutani Infra, were issued a NOC under Section 17-A of the TCP Act, 1974 on June 2, 2025 by the Mormugao Planning and Development Authority (MPDA) for land development at Survey No 257/1 in Sancoale.
However, the NOC includes the following rider: “This NOC is issued subject to the final outcome of the pending litigation (PIL WP No 1884/2024 (F)) before the Hon’ble High Court of Bombay at Goa.”
Residents around the project allege this is not the first time Bhutani Infra has tried to secure an electricity connection without all permissions in place.“We have had to come out three times to stop them from trying to pull wires into their property. They tried to do it once around sunset and the staff of the Electricity Department had to come and remove the wires the next morning,” said villager Jordan Fernandes.
“Once they get a temporary connection, it turns into permanent,” he added.
“I do not wish to comment at this stage,” stated advocate Richard Almeida, representing the petitioners at the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court in PIL WP No. 1884/2024(F).