MARGAO
Beware! The government has started the exercise to compile and verify the details in respect of the number of agricultural tenancy declaration applications involving comunidade lands that have been decided ex-parte against the comunidade for non-appearance of attorneys in the last five years.
If the reply given by Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate in the just concluded Assembly session is any indication, the government has also issued instructions that no ex-parte orders are to be passed against the comunidades.
The Revenue Minister gave his reply to an unstarred question tabled by Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, seeking details of all agricultural declaration tenancy involving applications of comunidade lands that have been decided ex-parte against the comunidade for non-appearance of the attorney in the last five years. The MLA had also sought details of the name of Mamlatdar Court, Case number, name of the applicant, name of respondent comunidade, survey numbers of tenanted land, date of issue of notice to comunidade, and date of the final order in each such case.
The Revenue Minister, however, informed that the government from time to time has issued various circulars and instructions that Notices of any Revenue court matters should be served through the Administrator of Comunidades.
Monserrate has further said that instructions are also issued that no ex-parte orders be passed against the comunidades. “The government has also directed the Mamlatdars not to issue any NOC/Consent for deleting the name of Comunidade from Form I & XIV without obtaining prior approval of the government so that the government gets opportunities to examine every case. The details are under compilation and verification,” Monserrate further stated.
The Revenue Minister was replying to a question tabled by Lourenco seeking to know whether the government is aware that admission of claim or compromise by a comunidade in a legal proceeding is prohibited under the Code of Comunidades and requires the prior sanction of the Administrative Tribunal.
The MLA had further asked whether the government is aware that a large number of agricultural tenancy claims are admitted and/or compromised by unscrupulous comunidade attorneys by permitting tenancy applications to proceed ex-parte against the comunidade and that third persons have fraudulently acquired comunidade land in this manner.
Incidentally, the Revenue Minister said the government shall take appropriate action as deemed fit as per the law and as per the facts of the case. He was replying to a question about whether the government will consider referring all the cases to the Collector under revisional jurisdiction and whether the government will issue directions to Mamlatdars regarding exercising due diligence in tenancy cases involving comunidade land and whether the government will consider taking criminal or disciplinary action against errant comunidade attorneys involved in such cases.
