Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: In a major set back to the Goa Government, the High Court of Bombay in Goa has Read down the controversial Section 17 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1974, pertaining to the Zone change, while directing the State not to grant any further permissions for now.
The division bench today passed the judgment in a public interest litigation filed by the Goa Foundation, the Khazan Society of Goa, Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) and many others. The Court has posted the matter for further directions after six weeks, as it has granted interim stay on its order.
Speaking to media persons post judgment, Advocate Norma Alvares, representing the petitioners, said that the Court has Read down the Rules and Guidelines which enables the operations of Section 17 (2) of the TCP Act.
The Court has decided that the Section 17 (2) has to be read out properly, which means corrections have to be done in light of Regional Plan 2021 and not on the basis of erroneous, inadvertent or inconsistent.
“The court has stayed its order following the request from the Goa government. However, the Court has said that no further application can be granted at present,” she said.
Alvares said that this was a major victory for the people who were protesting against mass destruction of the environment in the name of corrections.
The PIL filed in 2023, had pleaded to quash and set aside the newly added Section 17 (2) of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act, 1974 which seeks to allow ad-hoc and arbitrary conversions of privately owned plots in the Regional Plan, based simply on individual applications from such parties on the grounds of alleged errors that need to be corrected in the said Plan.
The petition challenges the constitutional validity of such a provision, recently introduced into law. Immediately after the amendment was notified into law, several dubious zone changes have been notified with amazing speed.
Section 17 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Act was inserted by way of an amendment to the Act on 1st March 2023.
Under the section 17(2) provision, however, the government is empowered to change so called “erroneously” zoned plots in the existing Regional Plan 2021 on payment of set fees and charges. The rules framed under Section 17(2) enable private individuals to file applications to seek correction of such allegedly wrong zoning of their plots in Regional Plan 2021.
Meanwhile, the state government now intends to approach the Supreme Court of India.
