NGO says new law undermines centuries-old village community property system
MARGAO
Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) Goyche Fudle Pilgie Khatir and a gaunkar have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court, challenging the Goa Act 16 of 2025 that seeks to regularise unauthorised dwelling houses built on Comunidade lands across Goa and grant title to encroachers on centuries-old community-owned Comunidade lands.
The petitioners have prayed for specific reliefs including a declaration that Goa Act 16 of 2025, insofar as it inserts Article 372-B into the Code of Comunidades, is unconstitutional, ultra vires, and null and void, and that no rights, titles, or benefits shall accrue to any person under it.
The petition has further sought a declaration that the Goa Regularisation of Grant/Allotment of Encroached Comunidade Land Rules, 2025, notified on 1 October 2025, are likewise ultra vires and unconstitutional; and a direction restraining the government from amending the Code of Comunidades without following the procedure prescribed under Article 652 of the Code.
Pending final disposal of the petition, the petitioners have sought an immediate stay on the operation and enforcement of the Amendment Act and the 2025 Rules, restraining all respondents from processing, approving, or regularising any encroachment on Comunidade land under those provisions.
The Goa Legislative Diploma No. 2070, dated 15.04.1961 (Amendment) Act, 2025 — Goa Act 16 of 2025 — was introduced in the Goa Legislative Assembly on 4 August 2025 by the Revenue Minister, passed on 7 August 2025, and received the Governor’s assent on 1 September 2025. It was published in the Official Gazette on 2 September 2025.
The Act inserted a new Article 372-B into the Code of Comunidades, creating a mechanism by which persons who constructed dwelling houses on Comunidade land before 28 February 2014 may apply for regularisation of their occupation.
Pointing out that the Comunidades, also known as Gaunkaris, are ancient village community institutions in Goa that collectively own and manage village lands as private property, the petitioners said the Supreme Court of India has recognised the Comunidade system as embodying a form of collective village ownership unique to Goa.
The petitioners pointed out that on 6 March 2025, the High Court of Bombay at Goa delivered its judgment in PIL Suo Motu No. 3 of 2024, directing time-bound demolition of illegal constructions across Goa. “The judgment expressly recognised illegal construction on Comunidade property as a distinct seventh category and directed Administrators of Comunidades to take proactive action, including filing periodic compliance reports.” The petition specifically contends that the Amendment Act was introduced in the Goa Legislative Assembly in August 2025 while those directions remained pending compliance.
Saying that the Amendment Act is unconstitutional on several grounds, the petitioners contended that the law deprives Comunidades of their private community property without a legitimate public purpose and without fair compensation, in alleged violation of Article 300-A of the Constitution. They allege that regularisation fees as low as Rs 25 per square metre — which could result in a 300 sq. metre village plot being transferred for as little as Rs 7,500 — bear no rational relationship to prevailing market land values in Goa, amounting to what the petition describes as expropriation at a fraction of the real value.
The petition further alleges that the law creates an arbitrary and irrational classification under Article 14 of the Constitution, rewarding those who encroached on Comunidade land while providing no benefit to landless persons who remained within the law. The “deemed consent” mechanism — by which a Comunidade’s silence within 30 days is treated as approval, and even an explicit refusal may be overridden by a government-appointed Administrator on appeal — is alleged to strip Comunidades of any meaningful say over their own property.
