PANAJI: The Goa legislature already has enough powers under existing laws to protect Goan land and there is no need to go to Delhi crying from special status to save Goan land, two Goan legal Goliaths—former chief justice of the Allahabad high court, Justice Ferdino Rebello and former Union law minister Ramakant Khalap—said on Friday.
Khalap and Rebello, along with heritage activist Prajal Sakhardande, were speaking at a seminar on 'desirability of special status to the state of Goa' organized by the Goa legislators' forum at the Goa legislative complex.
All three said special status to Goa was most desirable, but Khalap and Rebello said that provisions under the existing state laws and under the Constitution offer enough powers to the state government to protect Goan land.
Implicit in their statement is a charge that acts of the Goan legislature to pass resolutions demanding that the central government grant special status to Goa and proclamations that all-party delegations will head to Delhi to demand the same are a mockery of the public.
Khalap welcomes special status to Goa via amendment to Article 371 of the Constitution. But he says that pending special status through Constitutional amendment, it is possible to make suitable amendment to the Goa Land Revenue Code 1968 and save whatever agricultural land remains. Khalap cited the example of Indian cinestar Amitabh Bachchan who bought a large tract of agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh some years ago.
An activist went to court on the grounds that the law prohibited sale of agricultural land to a non-agriculturist like Bachchan.
The Goa Land Revenue Code was copied word-to-word from the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code which has the provision to prohibit transfer of agricultural land to non-agriculturists.
Yet, when Goa copied the Maharashtra Act for itself that provision was surprisingly omitted by some "vested interests", Khalap alleged. But that provision can now be incorporated, he added.
Khalap said that besides using Article 244 of the Constitution to provide protection to scheduled tribes, the Goa government should adopt land ceiling laws, both for urban and non-urban land holdings. "If the above suggestions are implemented, they will go a long way to give special status to Goa without amendments to the Constitution," said Khalap.
Rebello was even more emphatic in pointing out that under Schedule VII of the Constitution, list 2, entry 18, power to protect land is exclusively with the state legislature. "So what are you going to tell the Prime Minister? That you do not want to follow the Constitution?" Rebello rhetorically mocked the proposal for an all-party delegation to meet the PM for special status.
Rebello said local laws like agricultural tenancy Act and the land revenue code empower the state government to protect land. "It is not that there are no laws. But there is a violent violation of laws. I am a Goan. I also feel (sad) when I go to Taleigao and see tall buildings mushrooming all over the place," he said.
Times View
Instead of taking all party delegation to New Delhi at the expense of exchequer and making a mockery of the special status for Goa issue, the state government should explore the possibility of amending its own Act to provide for preventing agricultural land from being sold to non-agriculturists like in Maharastra and many other states of India. The number of times that the MLAs have already gone to Delhi under this garb has yielded no result. Goa must first implement the various existing laws to benefit the people. Politicians should stop creating drama for seeking votes and instead concentrate on actual development.
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