TCP’s rezoning decisions face High Court scrutiny

The Bombay High Court at Goa has taken cog nisance of a writ petition challenging several recent rezoning decisions under the Goa Town and Coun try Planning (TCP) Act, 1974, and issued notices to the TCP Department, TCP Board, and other con cerned parties. The petition, filed by Glean Cabral along with eight co-petitioners — in cluding Tahir Noronha, Pravinsingh Shedgaonkar, Mayur Shetgaonkar, Viraj Bakre, Govind Shirodkar, Oldrin Tony Pereira, Des mond Alvares and Thomas Aquino Souza — alleges that the State government, acting on recommenda tions of the TCP Board, has made arbitrary and proce durally flawed rezoning de cisions under Section 39A of the Act. The petitioners claim that despite submitting detailed objections and participating actively in the planning process, their concerns were dismissed without reasoned consid eration, hearings, or adher ence to procedural fairness. They argue that this under mines both environmental safeguards and constitu tional rights. The petition seeks quashing of four notifica tions dated May 22, June 5, June 19, and July 3, 2025, describing them as “arbi trary, unconstitutional, vi olative of principles of nat ural justice and contrary to the statutory framework.” In addition, the petition ers have urged the Court to direct the TCP Department to review all rezonings con ducted under Section 39A through a properly con stituted TCP Board com prising qualified experts in town, urban, or regional planning. They have also demanded the establish ment of a transparent and participatory process for future rezoning, including: Mandatory hearings for objectors raising substan tive or technical objections; compulsory site inspec tions for environmentally sensitive areas; no-ob jection certificates from relevant technical depart ments, such as WRD, PWD, Village Panchayats, and the Goa State Biodiversity Board and online publica tion of all technical reports and scrutiny analyses prior to decision-making. Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa is representing the petitioners. The High Court has now issued notices to the State government, the TCP Secretary, and two TCP Board members — a civil engineer and an architect — seeking their responses on the allegations. The case is being closely watched by environmentalists, urban planners, and local residents, as it raises crucial questions about procedural transparency, citizen partici pation, and environmental governance in Goa’s town planning framework.