PANAJI
In a major action against bureaucrats by the State government, 14 former Deputy Collectors and Mamlatdars of Bardez are being inquired for allegedly failing to implement High Court orders regarding the demolition of illegal constructions in the coastal taluka.
The Revenue Department issued summons to these officers including Rahul Desai “ who is also under investigation in a separate land grab case “ seeking their personal appearance before Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Revenue) Sandip Jacques for questioning.
The summons, a copy of which is in possession of The Goan, mentioned that the High Court on September 15, 2021 had directed the demolition of the illegal structures and restoration of the government land to its original condition. While this order into the Public Interest Litigation was not adhered to, the Court, in a subsequent contempt petition, noted a delay of two years and observed that the authorities had not even attempted to explain the delay.
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) had earlier directed the North Goa Collector on November 30, 2020, to carry out the demolition. It was this inaction that led to a contempt petition being filed in the High Court.
The officers under inquiry “ Laxmikant Kuttikar, Rahul Desai, Krishna Gauns, Dashrath Gawas, Pravind Gawas, Dhiren Banavalikar, Prataprao Gaonkar, Anant Malik, Akshay Potekar, Kapil Phadte, Rajesh Ajgaonkar, Gurudas Desai, Uday Prabhudesai, and Subhash Belgaonkar “ had served in their respective roles between 2018 and 2024.
Seven of them were questioned on Monday with the remaining expected to appear on Tuesday. They are being asked to explain the reasons for the delay in executing the demolition orders and clarify any administrative lapses.
The summons also warned that failure to appear would be considered non-cooperation with the inquiry and could attract further disciplinary action.
