The Special Investigating Team (SIT) under the chairmanship of Commissioner of inquiry Justice VK Jadhav made an astonishing observation that in his service as a Judge in Civil and Criminal Courts in Maharashtra he had not come across so many land grabbing cases as it happened in just two years 2020 to 2022 in Goa even not sparing the ancestral properties of former UK home secretary Suella Braverman. Many overseas Goans / NRIs/OCIs have made an air dash to Goa to see if their ancestral properties were in safe hands as the Portuguese Civil Code,1867 was still in force in Goa. The inquiry commission must also look into agricultural lands and that agricultural income tax is State subject and State government has amended Article 20(b) of the Legislative Diploma No 1785 on 7.4.1958 in year 1973 and said decree is still in force therefore the Revenue Department is bound to keep records of the private land owners of agricultural “properties” so that agricultural properties are not plundered and turned into a concrete jungle. Collection of agricultural income tax “Matriz Predial” is therefore an important step empowering farmers.
