Panaji, Mar 15 (PTI) The Goa government on Saturday said it was weighing different options, including making changes suggested by the High Court, in connection with a controversial provision in the Town and Country Planning Act.
The Goa Bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday read down section 17 (2) of Town and Country Planning Act 1974 that allowed the creation of zones within zones.
A division bench of of Justices Nivedita P Mehta and M S Karnik said it was not in furtherance of development in the public interest by maintaining a balance between sustainable development vis-a-vis environmental issues, but was concerned with private land owners’ interests.
Following severe criticism of the state government, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant late this evening held a meeting with state Town and Country Planning minister Vishwajit Rane and Goa BJP chief Damodar Naik to discuss the court order.
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Rane said, “As far as section 17 (2) of TCP Act is concerned, the court has upheld the section, but it has read down bylaws and rules. The court judgment has given more clarity to the section. It has also upheld constitutional validity of law of 17 (2) section of TCP Act.” “The section was introduced considering the fact that there were lot of errors in the Regional Plan. People had nowhere to go to correct the mistakes. The section was addressing their grievances by correcting the errors. During the meeting with the CM, it was decided that the government should weigh options, including considering and accepting the judgment and making necessary changes in public interest,” he added.
Rane, earlier, had said his department would challenge the order in the Supreme Court.
The minister said he had mentioned about the interest of the investors to be protected through this section, which was taken out of context by the NGOs.
“If NGOs want to take my statement out of context due to their obsession with Delhi investors, then it shows their mindset. It is nothing but a malicious campaign by people who cannot accept the fact that they have failed in the main challenge and are embarrassed to accept it,” he claimed. PTI RPS BNM
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.