Team Herald
PANJIM: Haryana politician Gopal Kanda’s firm Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd (GGHPL) is set to begin offshore casino operations in River Mandovi as it has taken over the currently non-operational Maharajah Casino on lease for six months.
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has asked the State government to allot the firm a jetty with the State government assuring to issue necessary orders within a week.
“It is clear that the State Government has decided to allot a jetty in respect of vessel M V San Domino. Learned Advocate General on instructions states that necessary orders will be issued to the petitioner within a period of one week. We accept this statement,” states the order by Justices N M Jamdar and Prithviraj Chavan in response to a fresh petition filed by the company for allotment of a jetty with respect to Domino.
Touted as one of the biggest floating casinos in South East Asia, the sixth offshore casino called ‘Maharajah’, aboard the MV San Domino, entered the waters of the Mandovi on February 17, 2009. However, it has remained unused since then.
With GGHPL’s ill-fated M V Lucky 7 undergoing repairs in Chennai, it chose to operate Maharajah on lease, following which the company filed a miscellaneous civil application earlier this month.
Lucky 7 turned into a major controversy on running aground at Miramar beach after leaving Mormugao Port Trust to enter River Mandovi on July 13. The company had violated conditions laid down by the Captain of Ports that advised movement in waters post-monsoon, which meant after September 15. The grounded vessel was further weakened during the salvaging operation and technical glitches.
Sources said that as the company has already paid the fees to the government, it decided to carry out the operations by taking over the non-operational Maharaja vessel on short term lease.
