Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The North Goa Sessions Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR within 24 hours in a case involving alleged irregularities in the allotment of government land at EDC Patto Plaza in Panaji. The court’s directive follows a petition filed by activist Kashinath Shetye, who accused various central and state government agencies of fraudulently leasing and selling land without proper authorization.
The land in question was originally allotted to the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for housing certain government offices. However, according to the petitioners, portions of the land were either sold or leased out without obtaining prior approval from the government, violating allocation conditions and resulting in an estimated loss of ₹300 crore to the state exchequer.
The petition also alleged that even if permissions had been secured, the rules required 50% of the proceeds to be deposited with either the state government or the EDC—something that was allegedly not done.
Sessions Judge Irshad Agha, in his order, noted that there was sufficient material on record to warrant immediate registration of a criminal case. “There is nothing exceptional in the present case that warrants a delay in the registration of an FIR on the ground of preliminary inquiry,” the judge observed. “Even if such an inquiry was justified, it should not have exceeded two days.”
The court criticized the delay in initiating a formal investigation and emphasized that an FIR “ought to have been registered by the investigating agency” based on the available material.
The CBI has been instructed to act on the complaint and begin its probe into the alleged misuse of government property without further delay.
