The recent amendment to the Code of Comunidades, pushed through by the Pramod Sawant government, has ignited a firestorm of controversy across Goa. By inserting Article 372-B, the government has created an unprecedented mechanism to regularise illegal houses built on age-old village communes ” lands that were never meant to be privately owned, let alone encroached upon. The Opposition has rightly called out the amendment for what it is: a backdoor attempt to convert unlawful occupation into legal ownership, thereby rewarding encroachers and punishing the rightful custodians of comunidade lands. The insertion of Article 372-B has weaponised silence. If comunidade attorneys do not respond within 45 days, their silence is deemed as consent. This is a dangerous distortion of due process and a clear violation of property law. Moreover, it contradicts landmark Supreme Court rulings that prohibit the regularisation of illegal constructions on common lands. The ecological fallout is equally alarming. With land use “corrections” under the TCP Act, vast swathes of agricultural and orchard land”over 17 lakh square metres”have already been converted into settlements. The courts must intervene to uphold the sanctity of comunidade lands and the rule of law.
