PANJIM: In a major setback to Leading Hotels Private Limited, the High Court of Bombay at Goa has quashed and set aside all the Tenancy Free Certificates obtained from the Deputy Collector, and appointed Dharbandora Deputy Collector Agnelo Fernandes to conduct a fresh inquiry in the tenancy issue.
St Anthony’s Mundkar and Tenants Association and Goa Foundation, through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), had challenged the permission granted to the Golf Course and Resort Project at Tiracol promoted by Leading Hotels Private Limited contending that the project is in tenanted land and thus could not be used for a golf course violating the provisions of the Goa Land Use Act, 1991.
The High Court on Friday read out the operative part of its judgement and said, “Deputy Collector Fernandes shall proceed to hold an inquiry in terms of the directions issued by this court in WP 291/2000 dated 5-9-2000 and in the light of observations made herein above, within five months from the receipt of the judgment”.
The Court has also kept the NOC granted by the Town Planning authorities as well as the sanads granted by the Collector in abeyance until the final adjudication.
The order has also stated that respondent number eight, the promoters of the golf course, shall not carry out any construction activity in the property till the time Fernandes completes the inquiry, in terms of the directions in the present judgment.
Arguments in the PIL concluded in February 2017 before the division bench comprising Justice FM Reis and Justice Nutan Sardessai.
The High Court in July 2015 had granted an interim stay on the project, while allowing the developers – Leading Hotels – to construct two model villas in an area of around 700 sq mtrs.
The petitioners had filed a fresh PIL in July 2015 to the December 2014 PIL against the project. The petition was based on what they claim to be fraudulent change of land from agricultural to non-agricultural land which is also tenanted.
The December 2014 petition filed by St Anthony Mundkar and Tenants Association sought the resolution of tenancy matters and called for a stop to the work on the project. Following the petition, the government had appointed a one man Inquiry Commission headed by Sandip Jacques to study whether the land, acquired for the project, was tenanted. The Commission submitted its report in favour of the tenants and found that the land was tenanted and agricultural.
In April 2013, the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (EIAA) had granted Environment Clearance (EC) for setting up an 18-hole PGA, golf course and eco tourism resort at Tiracol, which has been proposed to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore. In June, the pollution board granted consent to operate and in December 2012, CRZ clearance was obtained for the project.
