In a significant development, a one-man commission, headed by Retd Justice of Bombay High Court V K Jadhav, appointed by the Goa government, has submitted its report on the land grabbing cases in the coastal state to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant just 10 months after initiating the investigation in January 2023.
Justice Jadhav, speaking to reporters after submitting the report, emphasized that this entire process was completed in a “record-breaking time of ten months.” He expressed his confidence in the report’s potential impact, stating, “I have submitted the report. Now the ball is in the court of the government.”
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, upon receiving the report, revealed that it has been passed on to the State Chief Secretary and the State Advocate General for further action. He highlighted the importance of the recommendations contained in the report, which are expected to play a crucial role in safeguarding a substantial amount of land in the future, land that might otherwise have been sold by unscrupulous individuals involved in the land grab scandal.
Sawant pointed out that the scandal involved seven main scamsters who had exploited “no man’s land” and even government-owned properties. He clarified that “no man’s land” referred to properties that had been left unclaimed by their owners. In response, he has directed the Chief Secretary to initiate a process to identify such properties and bring them under government control. He also mentioned the possibility of providing a specific timeframe for individuals to claim their properties.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant expressed his satisfaction with this development, stating, “This is a great achievement for me in my tenure as Chief Minister.” He emphasized that Goans residing abroad could now potentially reclaim land that had been fraudulently sold. This marks the beginning of a thorough inquiry aimed at scrutinizing every department involved and addressing the actions of the seven key individuals responsible for the land-grabbing scandal.
