Tenants charge Leading Hotels of dishonest representation

PANJIM: Tiracol tenants who had granted an irrevocable power of attorney to Leading Hotels are now preparing to get their land back and are in the process of filing a case with the civil court that granted negative declarations.

In a letter to Leading Hotels, the tenants through their advocate have claimed that they were not aware of proceedings made in their name.

“You have without due authority accepted on behalf of our clients jointly and/or severally show cause notices, summons, other notices and correspondence addressed to our clients and have represented our clients before various authorities as well as civil and revenue courts and filed statements and replies and other miscellaneous applications on behalf of our clients without even making our clients aware of the nature of the proceedings, that were initiated against our clients or the nature of the replies, claims, written statements, pleadings and statements on oath that were being filed on behalf of our clients,” said the letter. 

It goes on to say that orders obtained from the revenue as well as the civil courts were not only prejudicial to the interest of the tenants but claim they were obtained by circumventing the law and by dishonestly representing to various authorities that the villagers were not the tenants of their respective tenanted agricultural properties of which they are the deemed owners as on the Tillers day in terms of the Vth Amendment to the Agricultural Tenancy Act 1964.

The tenants have asked for revoking of the power of attorney citing there to be no such thing as an irrevocable PoA. They have also said that if the company was not to do so, legal proceedings would be initiated against them. 

Meanwhile the High Court Bombay in Goa has asked for the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to set aside their order and decisions in an appeal against Leading Hotels and hear their case afresh on the grounds of limitation and maintainability. 

The company had asked for a transfer of the case from the Goa court to Bombay but on June 19, the Chief Justice at the Bombay High Court directed the Goa bench to hear the case as it was deemed appropriate.