Goa suspends chief town planner Rajesh Naik
PANAJI: The Goa government on Wednesday suspended chief town planner Rajesh Naik in connection with alleged irregularities in calculating conversion fees while processing applications for change of zone under Goa's contentious Town and Country Planning Rules.
The order was issued by the state's vigilance directorate on Wednesday.
The suspension comes after some public spirited individuals approached the Bombay High Court at Goa, demanding action against the chief town planner for allegedly causing loss of several crores of rupees to the public exchequer by undervaluing assessment fees for correction of a zone.
During the proceedings, the government has acknowledged that the irregularities caused a loss of around ₹8-crore to the state exchequer and that Naik was given vigilance clearance on the ground that there was only a preliminary inquiry pending against him but no FIR or charge sheet.
In Wednesday's order, the vigilance directorate said a 'disciplinary proceeding' was 'contemplated' against Naik and that his suspension would be enforced 'with immediate effect'.
Naik was not available for comment despite several attempts to reach out to him.
In response to the petition before the high court, the state government conceded that some of the change of zone applications were undervalued and it was revealed upon inquiry that there were 46 beneficiaries of zone change wherein the fees due were under assessed. Notices were issued to the applicants concerned to pay the difference, the state told the high court, pointing out that the conversion would be treated as rescinded if the payments weren't made.
The state told the court that a preliminary inquiry had been initiated by the vigilance department and a report would be submitted to the high court/
The high court had earlier struck down the Goa Town and Country Planning Rules and read down a controversial provision, section 17(2) which allowed individuals to apply for 'correction' of zones on Goa's regional plan to allow them to be marked as settlement thus opening them for construction.
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