MAPUSA
Describing former GSIDC Managing Director, Sanjit Rodrigues as “spineless” and backed by “God Fathers”, the recently retired Goa Lokayukta, Justice P K Misra has ordered “major” disciplinary proceedings against the senior bureaucrat for gross dereliction of duty while allowing construction of a road without any regard to law and laid-down procedures.
The former secretary of the Arpora panchayat, Rui Cardozo has also been indicted by Justice Misra who demanded appropriate disciplinary proceedings against him for deliberately filing a false affidavit in the High Court.
The anti-corruption ombudsman has further left it to the discretion of the government whether to suspend the officers or not.
According to the Lokayukta order, the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) and the Arpora panchayat went out of its way, with the blessing of the local MLA, to construct a road for the benefit of a private company.
A resident of Arpora, Anthony D’Souza had petitioned to the Goa Lokayukta office stating that the local panchayat and the MD of GSIDC forcibly tarred a pathway through his property without legal authority and without conducting any land acquisition process.
After conducting a detailed investigation and perusing through the material on record, the Goa Lokayukta found that a private company was seeking to construct some villas in its property in Arpora. The company gave an undertaking to the panchayat to construct/tar the road up to the entrance of its property at the cost of the company.
The complainant had intimated the panchayat that the private company’s undertaking was illegal as no NOC was obtained from the owner of the land (complainant) through which part of the pathway was passing.
What followed was a saga of turns and U-turns by the local panchayat while granting permission for construction/tarring of the pathway, the Lokayukta order observed.
Initially, the panchayat admitted that the pathway was passing through the complainant’s property and there was no proposal for land acquisition for the road. The panchayat also passed a resolution to revoke the NOC issued to the private company since the project did not have proper access.
But within months, the panchayat passed a resolution to request the PWD to take up asphalting of the pathway/road.
Since the authorities were trying to forcibly tar the pathway the complainant approached the High Court with a writ petition seeking an interim order.
The Lokayukta said the former panchayat secretary filed an affidavit in the High Court stating that there was already a motorable road which was asphalted around 20 years back by the panchayat which was not entirely true.
The Lokayukta observed that the correspondence between the private company and the panchayat showed that the private company wanted the katcha road to be converted into a proper public road with the blessing of the local MLA and some obliging officials and sarpanch/secretary.
Justice Misra said that the cost for construction of the road was never estimated nor it was decided that such road would be asphalted at the cost of the GSIDC or the village panchayat.
“The GSIDC and its MD bent backwards in obliging the private company which apparently had the blessings of the local MLA. The responsibility or rather irresponsibility of Sanjit Rodrigues is writ-large,” the Lokayukta observed in his order.
Justice Misra said the GSIDC MD had shamelessly and brazenly admitted that the said work was undertaken on the instructions of the local MLA.
“It is eternal shame of this nation including Goa that spineless people like Sanjit Rodrigues are protected by their political God Fathers and they are rewarded in their service career by being promoted ahead of more forthright officers and being posted in one lucrative post to another lucrative post. It is eternal shame that persons like the secretary of the panchayat tend to create vested interest by currying favour from the unscrupulous politicians, who without batting an eyelid indulge in favouritism,” Justice Misra said.
Sanjit Rodrigues is one of the eight officers of the Goa civil service whose names were recently cleared by the selection committee for promotion to the IAS cadre.
