NT Reporter
Panaji
Senior Congress leader Girish Chodankar alleged that by decriminalising offences across 12 different statutes, including the Fire Act, Panchayat Raj Act, Excise Act and Health Act, the Goa government is shielding the owners of Birch by Romeo Lane from criminal liability for deadly violations.
“While the world was mourning the loss of the victims, the government clandestinely gazetted the ordinance on December 9, 2025, a mere three days after the fire. The document claims it was signed by the Governor on December 2, 2025, four days prior to the tragedy,” he said.
Chodankar said the Jan Vishwas Ordinance was introduced to decriminalise offences across 12 different statutes. “Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stand exposed as active enablers in shielding the owners of Birch. The individuals responsible for the loss of 25 lives are being shielded by the state’s highest authorities, including the Governor, CM, TCP Minister and Panchayat Minister,” Chodankar alleged.
He said this was not a coincidence but a safeguard. “It targets the very offences that killed our brothers and sisters: fire safety neglect and illegal operations. Instead of seeking justice, the government has chosen to dismantle the courts’ power and remove jail time for the elite,” Chodankar said.
“We are witnessing death of the rule of law, replaced by a system that rewrites history to protect the powerful. We are now living in a banana republic where at first laws are not applied to the powerful and then, when disaster strikes, the same laws are manipulated to provide retroactive immunity to them,” he said.
