Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Bombay High Court at Goa has issued notices to former Chief Town Planner (CTP) Rajesh J. Naik, the Directorate of Vigilance and other respondents in a petition challenging the Goa government’s decision to drop disciplinary proceedings against the former official in the controversial Town and Country Planning (TCP) fee under-recovery case.
The petition, filed by activist Swapnesh Sherlekar and others, challenges the Vigilance Department’s order dated May 5, 2026, which closed the disciplinary proceedings against Naik and restored all consequential service benefits.
The petitioners have contended that the Vigilance Department’s decision overlooks allegations that Naik undercharged land conversion and zoning correction fees, resulting in a substantial loss to the State exchequer.
The controversy dates back to March 28, 2024, when the TCP Department revised the fee structure for rectifying inconsistent or incoherent zoning provisions. The revised notification fixed the fee at ₹1,000 per square metre in cases where such corrections effectively resulted in the conversion of land into settlement or commercial settlement zones.
However, despite the revised notification, the higher fee was allegedly not applied in several cases, with authorities continuing to levy charges under the earlier fee structure.
The matter reached the High Court through a writ petition, following which the Court, on March 5, 2025, observed that the allegations appeared, prima facie, to be serious as they directly affected State revenue and the public exchequer. The Court directed the government to verify the matter and recover the applicable fees.
Subsequently, the State government clarified on February 21, 2025, that the revised fee structure was mandatory and initiated recovery proceedings in 47 identified cases.
Following the High Court’s observations, Rajesh Naik was suspended on April 30, 2025, just before his retirement, after authorities found prima facie that lower fees had been levied contrary to the revised notification.
However, in its order issued on May 5, 2026, the Directorate of Vigilance concluded that no further disciplinary action was warranted.
According to the order signed by Vigilance Director Abhir Hege, additional fees had been recovered in 40 of the 47 cases, while permissions granted in the remaining seven cases were cancelled after the concerned parties failed to pay the revised charges.
Taking these developments into account, the competent authority decided to drop all further proceedings against Naik and restore his consequential benefits.
