PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has ruled that an Outline Development Plan (ODP) must conform to the Regional Plan and cannot operate in contravention of it.
While directing that ODPs for villages of Calangute, Candolim, Arpora, Nagoa and Parra are not applicable, the Division Bench comprising Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Nivedita Mehta held that the ODPs cannot be enforced in areas that are no longer planning areas under the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act.
“The justification offered for the issuance of the Executive Order makes it amply clear that the TCP Act -- along with its Rules, Regulations, Bye-laws, Notifications, and Orders -- ceases to apply to the five villages once they are excluded from the purview of the planning areas under the Act,” the Bench observed.
The court made it clear that the legal framework of the TCP Act must be read in harmony with the Regional Plan and that executive action cannot override the statutory structure.
“We do not find the said stand to be sustainable and we reason our conclusion by observing that the State is attempting to misread the provisions of Sections 18 and 19 of the TCP Act,” reads the order as it found several zoning changes carried out in the revised plans to be illegal, arbitrary, and harmful to the environment.
The bench passed the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Goa Foundation and a resident of Candolim that challenged a circular dated December 22, 2022, issued by the Chief Town Planner (Planning), which continued to uphold the ODP zoning of these villages. The petitioners argued that the circular was issued without jurisdiction, lacked transparency, and violated the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, 1974.
The court observed that the changes in land use under the ODPs were not only detrimental to the environmental fabric of Calangute but were also pushed through in disregard of objections raised by local villagers.
Slamming the process adopted by the authorities, the bench noted that the statutory North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) was sidelined during the finalization of the ODPs.
“In the present case, instead of the NGPDA, the TCP Board took charge... and finalized the zone changes of 985 plots on a single day, October 14, 2022,” the court remarked, terming the move a violation of due process.
The bench stressed the importance of adhering to the established procedures under the TCP Act, especially the role of District Planning Committees in the preparation of development plans.
“Every District Planning Committee has an important role in preparing the draft development plan. It must give due regard to matters of common interest between the Panchayats and Municipalities, which include spatial planning, integrated development of infrastructure, and environmental conservation,” the order stated.
Referring to the Regional Plan 2021, the High Court questioned the rationale behind bypassing it through executive action. The RP-2021, it said, had been formulated with comprehensive stakeholder consultation and sub-committee inputs.
“We do not find any such contingency that prompted the Government to invoke Section 33 (of the TCP Act). In fact, when the Government suspended the development plan, it was to take steps towards organized development, having found fault with the existing ODPs due to large-scale illegalities,” the court said.
However, the court added that “for reasons best known to the Government,” the authorities chose to overlook fatal flaws in the ODPs and notified them in violation of procedures prescribed under the TCP Act.
The PIL had argued that the Chief Town Planner's circular which upheld the disputed zoning—was issued in a non-transparent manner. The petitioners pointed out that it was neither notified in the official gazette nor uploaded to the TCP Department’s website, terming it a "mischievous and colourable exercise of power."
Agreeing with the petitioners, the court held the circular to be without jurisdiction and set it aside.
“As long as the Goa Town and Country Planning Act continue to govern the land development in the State of Goa through the Regional Plan, and since the Regional Plan for Goa-2021, is already in operation, which has been prepared after obtaining necessary reports from sub-committees constituted at the State Level Committee and since the draft Regional Plan-2021 reached the stage of finalization with wider consultation of all stakeholders, we do not find justification in the State issuing the Executive Order... The permissible land use in RP-2021 has been specifically divided into distinct categories, with its normal uses and uses permitted on special grounds being carved out,” it further said.
