PANAJI
Three months without a presiding judge has left 1,311 cases pending before the State’s administrative and allied tribunals, with the oldest tenancy dispute dating back to 2008.
In the just-concluded assembly session, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant -- also Law and Judiciary Minister -- informed that the post of President, Administrative Tribunal, Panaji, has remained vacant since May 30, 2026, after the incumbent judicial officer was transferred on deputation. The post of Additional President is also vacant.
The backlog spans four tribunals -- 825 cases before the Administrative Tribunal, 290 before the Municipalities Appellate Tribunal, 194 before the Co-operative Tribunal and two before the College Tribunal.
As many as 627 cases relate to the Mundkar Act, Agricultural Tenancy Act and Land Revenue Code, including a tenancy matter pending since 2008.
“High Court direction matters and other urgent matters of the Tribunal and the Co-operative Tribunal are being placed before the Principal District Judge, North Goa, and an Additional Sessions Judge in Panaji”, the government replied to MLA Venzy Viegas, explaining the situation during the absence of the regular presiding judge.
The reply further revealed that the delay in appointments predates the latest vacancy. Candidates interviewed for the post of President in September 2021 were rejected, while the posts of President and Additional President were subsequently re-advertised in April 2023 and August 2024.
A Selection Committee constituted in August 2024 could not meet for more than a year due to administrative reasons. Its chairman, the senior-most judge of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, was later transferred to the High Court’s Mumbai Bench.
Justice Bharati Dangre subsequently took over as chairperson of the committee and, along with the Chief Secretary and Secretary (Law), interviewed candidates on October 8 and 9, 2025. The committee recommended two candidates to the government. Nearly a year later, however, the recommendations are yet to be accepted.
To another query by MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco about the selected candidates, the government said their details could not be disclosed as the government has not yet accepted the recommendation of the Selection Committee.
A separate reply to MLA Vijai Sardesai showed that 430 pending cases originate from South Goa and 82 from Kushavati, taking the combined number to 512.
