Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The Bombay High Court at Goa today directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board to seal around 13 pubs, bars and dance bars, in Calangute, if found illegally operational.
The Division bench has directed the State authorities to launch a major crackdown against all those illegally operating establishment along the Calangute coastal belt.
The Court has asked authorities to verify if these establishments have got construction licenses or not and Act accordingly.
The order was issued in public interest litigation (PIL) writ petition seeking to ban dance bars in the coastal areas especially in Calangute and Baga.
The Court has now adjourned the matter for January 2024.
In their petition, Sudesh Mayekar, a former member of the Calangute panchayat, and Kundan Kerkar, a resident of Naika Waddo, Calangute, prayed for the dance bars to be prohibited because they operate illegally, without an occupancy certificate, in unauthorised structures, and in violation of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the Goa (Regulation of Land Development and Building Construction) Act, 2008, and the Goa (Land Development and Building Construction) Regulations, 2010.
The petitioners claim that a dance bar’s business activity is outside the purview of a license for a bar or restaurant and necessitates a separate trade license in accordance with the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, as well as mandatory registration under the Goa, Daman, and Diu Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1982 and Rules, 1985.
The petitioners have requested that the State authorities conduct an immediate site inspection of 13 buildings, and that they take prompt action following the inspection to prevent the operation of the aforementioned premises without an occupancy certificate and to forbid the operation of dance bars without a trade license in accordance with the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.
According to the petitioners, a number of dishonest businessmen run dance bars with the intention of taking advantage of Indian tourists and demanding money from them.
The majority of the locations are leased by these dishonest businesspeople, who then operate the enterprise by securing excise and other licenses in the names of the original proprietors, protecting themselves from legal action.
Additionally, they have asked the Commissioner of State Taxes Officer to conduct an investigation into the loss of revenue to the public coffers resulting from the operation of an illicit dance bar business without registration under the Goa, Daman, and Diu Entertainment Tax Act, 1964 and Rules, 1965, as well as the loss of revenue to the Calangute village panchayat due to non-payment of licence fees under the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994.
