Team Herald
PANJIM: Serula, is the name of a Comunidade. But it is also a hot potato that no administrator, attorney, or treasure of this contentious communication, past or present wants to touch
Most of the former and current managing committee members of Serula Comunidade claimed ignorance about the Supreme Court directives on the demolition of illegal structures of the Serula Comunidade even though the directives are common knowledge and totally in the public domain.
The then Serula Comunidade treasurer Alex Policar Pereira said, “I was treasurer of Serula Comunidade from 2016 to 2019 but I don’t remember what had happened six years ago.”
Nobody seemed to “know” about the High Court judgment on Serula delivered in 2016 and the Supreme Court dismissing the appeal.
Current Serula Comunidade president Ashley Lobo said that he was out of the country when the High Court delivered its order. “I am not aware of the High Court directives to demolish illegal buildings because I was in the UK at that time,” he said.
Current Serula Comunidade attorney Peter Martins said that he too was unaware of the status of the case as the new managing committee assumed office a few days ago. “We took over eight days back,” he said.
Meanwhile, the managing committee members of Serula Comunidade claimed ignorance about the directives of the High Court of Bombay to demolish the illegal building belonging to the former BJP Minister. Revenue Minister Atanasio `Babush’ Monserrate said that he will inquire into the matter and that the court directives are honoured.
Monserrate said, “Nothing has come to my notice about the illegal building on Serula Comunidade. I had heard about it and I will inquire with the Administrator of Comunidades, North, and see that whatever directives are given by the Court are adhered to. I will go as per the law. There are no two ways about it,” he said.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte said that during his brief stint as Revenue Minister from 2017 to 2019, the matter was sub judice as the parties had appealed against the High Court order before the Supreme Court. He said, “During my tenure, the matter was sub judice. But to my knowledge, we had closed two shops and sealed them after the parties tried to open them in the said building.”
Khaunte said that while in opposition he had demanded a House Committee to probe the illegal constructions in the Serula Comunidade but it was not considered by the then government.
Khaunte said that with the forming of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe land grabbing cases, a lot of cases of land grabbing by fraudulent means mostly in Bardez taluka will come to light. “I had moved a note to Chief Minister to constitute SIT and now it has been constituted and action has stated,” he said.
The original petitioner in the land grabbing cases Trajano D’Mello said that after the High Court judgment directing the authorities to demolish the illegal building and to restore the land to the Serula Comunidade and the apex court dismissing the appeal of the respondents, he issued a legal notice to the then Revenue Minister Rohan Khaunte to act as per the Court order. But he failed to take any action, he said adding that Khaunte while in the opposition had demanded action against the same illegal building alleging involvement of the then BJP Minister.
