the goan I network
PANAJI
The land of the controversial special economic zones may have changed hands several times since 2007, from the original owners to the government, then to the promoter companies and now back to the government but the criminal case booked related to the alleged scam over its illegal and arbitrary allotment to the promoters seems to be heading nowhere.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant reported to the Goa legislative assembly as “presently under investigation” the first information report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Goa police way back in 2012.
The case was registered based on the complaint filed by Mandar Shirodkar, Dy General Manager, Legal of the Goa Industrial Development Corporation.
The cases were booked under sections 120-B read with 420, 468, 471 of IPC and section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 regarding the arbitrary and illegal allotment of land to SEZ promoters.
Earlier last year, the State government permitted the IDC to borrow a whopping Rs 150-crore from the regular banking system to pay the SEZ promoter companies and take back the land in a bizzare out-of-court settlement.
Now, the same land is set to change hands yet again with the GIDC and Industries Minister, Vishwajit Rane rooting to put it under the hammer, to bail out the Corporation in paying back the loans and meet the high and non-sustainable interest payout commitments.
Sawant responded in the negative to a query posed by Opposition Leader Digambar Kamat, on whether the State government had decided to withdraw the FIR.
The allotment of land to the SEZ promoter companies way back in 2006-07 was struck down as illegal and arbitrary by the Bombay High Court at Goa which had also directed registration of an FIR and investigation into the alleged land allotment scam. The then Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane and Industries Minister Luizinho Faleiro were also indicted in the case.
