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Time of India
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Goa govt challenges high court order on Sec 17(2) of TCP Act in Supreme Court
Panaji: Two months after the high court of Bombay at Goa struck down the rules and guidelines of the controversial Section 17 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Act , 1974, in 'public interest', state govt challenged the high court order in Supreme Court . 'After being entirely unclear of its proposed actions against the 17(2) judgment of the HC, Goa govt filed its SLP against the judgment this week,' Goa Foundation director Claude Alvares said. He said that as per govt's initial statements, the judgment was in its favour and there was no need to appeal. 'Now govt has once again changed its mind.' On May 2, TOI reported that the high court judgment became effective after the expiry of six weeks from the date of the verdict on March 13. After TCP minister Vishwajit Rane announced that state govt would not approach Supreme Court in the matter, all eyes were on govt's next move. The affected land developers were hopeful of some relief from the TCP department within the framework of the TCP Act. However, the greens are firm on fighting another legal battle to protect the environment. After the judgment was delivered on March 13, govt had sought a stay on the operation of the judgment for six weeks, which was accepted by the court. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 빠진 치아 있다면? 1개도 10개도 개당 33만원에 임플란트 해드려요 플란치과 더 알아보기 Undo 'Almost all the conversions are from paddy fields, natural cover, no-development zone, and orchard to settlement zones,' the HC said, adding that according to the state, 353 approvals under Section 17(2) were granted, affecting 26.5 lakh sqm. 'The 2023 rules confer unfettered and unguided authority on the executive to interpret what is meant by an inadvertent error or what is an inconsistent/incoherent zoning proposal,' the HC stated. 'There is no guidance in the 2023 rules themselves as to what is an 'inadvertent error or incoherent or inconsistent zoning proposal'. The power is open-ended.' Such 'plot-by-plot conversion, creating a zone within a zone virtually has the effect of mutilating the Regional Plan prepared after such an elaborate exercise,' the high court said. Two days after the HC struck down the rules and guidelines, Rane had said that govt would tweak the rules and guidelines in line with the HC directions and make Section 17(2) operational. Rane made a U-turn over his statement to challenge the HC order in Supreme Court and said that he would not do so.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Blanket change of land zones done under Sec 17 (2): Probe
Panaji: From blanket alteration of zones to completely ignoring the nature of land while deciding on conversions for the convenience of the landowners, the directorate of vigilance has found a series of blatant violations while investigating the underassessment of fees for land under Section 17 (2) of the TCP Act. The investigation revealed that the expert committee of the TCP department, chaired by chief town planner Rajesh Naik who was suspended on Wednesday, completely ignored the zones identified in Regional Plans of 2001 and 2021. It also found the alterations were approved without adhering to the universal standard criteria to be adopted for the preparation of the Regional Plan. The directorate of vigilance said that zones in the Regional Plan are identified considering the geology of the state and the need to balance development with ecology. The investigation revealed that Naik recommended proposals for the correction of zones without site inspections, reports from the forest department, or meeting other requirements. The proposals were nevertheless approved. The investigation indicated that despite properties being surrounded by green vegetation, direct conversion to settlement zones was recommended by the committee. In some cases, the expert committee did not provide a clear reasoning. The directorate of vigilance found that partly cultivable land with the Command Area Development Authority (Cada) of the water resources department, Cada land with partial natural cover, and lands that were partly crematoriums were converted into settlement zones. These conversions were made without obtaining comments from the water resources department. The vigilance inquiry was initiated after advocate general Devidas Pangam informed the high court that govt found 46 cases of zone changes where the fees were underassessed by the TCP department. He also told the court that the report would be submitted to it in a sealed cover. Following the inquiry, the TCP department submitted the files related to 46 cases of underassessment of fees to the directorate of vigilance. The TCP department also passed some orders for the cancellation of land conversion due to the failure to pay the difference amount in conversion fees. One of the petitioners challenging the underassessment, Swapnesh Sherlekar, alleged that the TCP department deliberately undervalued the fees for the correction of zones under Section 17(2) of the TCP Act by applying the old rate of Rs 200 per sqm instead of Rs 1,000 per sqm as stipulated by the new notification of March 28, 2024.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
HC order nullifying Sec 17 (2) rules, norms comes into force
Panaji: The high court judgment striking down the controversial rules and guidelines under Section 17(2) of the TCP Act in 'public interest' became effective after the expiry of six weeks from the date of the verdict on March 13. 'The court will now scrutinise individual cases, and if the conversion is contrary to the regional plan and the outline development plan, the conversion will be struck down,' advocate general Devidas Pangam told TOI . Referring to the recovery of conversion fees, Pangam said that in individual cases, if the court finds the land was converted without merit, the conversion would be set aside. With govt keeping its word of not approaching Supreme Court in the matter, all eyes are now on its next move. The affected land developers are hoping for some relief from the TCP department within the framework of the TCP Act. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like [Click Here] - 2025 Top Trending Search - Local network access Esseps Learn More Undo However, the greens are firm on fighting another legal battle to protect the environment. Claude Alvares, the director of Goa Foundation and the petitioner, said, 'We assume that the judgment is final. The matter has been listed for hearing in June. All the individual cases will be heard by the court.' Alvares added, 'We have filed a caveat in the Supreme Court. Had any special leave petition been filed in the court, we would have received a notice. As no notice has been received, we assume the HC judgment is final.' After the judgment was delivered on March 13, govt sought a stay on the operation of the judgment for six weeks, which was accepted by the court. 'Almost all the conversions are from paddy fields, natural cover, no-development zone, and orchard to settlement zones,' the HC said, adding that according to the state, 353 approvals under Section 17(2) have been granted, which affect 26.5 lakh sqm. 'The 2023 rules confer unfettered and unguided authority on the executive to interpret what is meant by an inadvertent error or what is an inconsistent/incoherent zoning proposal,' the HC said. 'There is no guidance in the 2023 rules themselves as to what is an 'inadvertent error or incoherent or inconsistent zoning proposal'. The power is open-ended.' Such 'plot-by-plot conversion, creating a zone within a zone virtually has the effect of mutilating the Regional Plan prepared after such an elaborate exercise,' the high court had said. While the affected parties have the scope to approach the apex court to seek relief, they are not betting on this because govt made a volte-face on challenging the verdict in the Supreme Court due to public pressure. Two days after the HC struck down the rules and guidelines, TCP minister Vishwajit Rane said that govt will tweak the rules and guidelines in line with the HC directions and make Section 17(2) operational. Rane made a U-turn over his statement to challenge the HC order in the Supreme Court and said that he will not do so.
Hindustan Times
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
NCP (SP) stage protest over PMRDA DP
puneletters@ The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Tuesday staged a protest demanding the scrapping of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (PMRDA) development plan (DP), alleging massive corruption in its formulation. Led by city unit president Prashant Jagtap, NCP (SP) workers held a demonstration outside the district collector's office. 'There is corruption of ₹3,000 crore in the PMRDA development plan. Several reservations were altered, and we have audio and video evidence to support these claims,' Jagtap claimed. He further alleged that during the preparation of the plan, money was collected from farmers whose land was marked for reservation. 'Many farmers have submitted proof of these dealings. We will submit all the evidence to the state government,' he added. Recently, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the cancellation of the PMRDA development plan. Reacting to the development, PMRDA Metropolitan Commissioner Yogesh Mhase said, 'The cancellation of the Development Plan will not affect ongoing development, as the Regional Plan remains in effect. Land acquisition for projects will proceed according to the Regional Plan.' When asked about the NCP's allegations, Mhase said, 'We are not aware of any such allegations and have not received any official complaints so far.'
