Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Both Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate took the initiative to reassure the House that there was no need for legal changes because mamlatdars and joint mamlatdars were operating effectively to carry out the quasi-judicial mundkar law procedures in order to resolve cases quickly.
Sawant and Monserrate were reacting to a private member’s resolution introduced by Mandrem MLA Jit Arolkar, who requested that the government draft a law that would allow Talathis to list individuals with mundkarial rights, such as conducting a survey, and establish a speedy procedure wherein mamlatadars issue declarations in their favor.
People often hesitate to register claims because they are afraid of the landlords’ reaction, he added, but the chief minister stated that the parties must at least file cases before mamlatdars and that the government can only guarantee a quick process after that.
“Cases can and are being finalised by mamlatdars courts even in just three hearings,” Sawant stated.
In response to the discussion, Monserrate had earlier stated that, despite hundreds of cases being resolved in the past year, including with courts operating on Saturdays and Sundays, there are only about 2,000 cases left in the state’s mamlatdar courts.
He stated that more than a thousand cases had been added in the previous year alone and that the reason the pendency is not decreasing is because new cases are being instituted without a sunset clause in the law.
Later, Arolkar retracted the resolution, stating that if people learn that the chief minister’s claims of disposal occurs even after three hearings, they will come out to file charges in mamlatdars courts.
