Staff Reporter
Panaji
Welcoming the order of the High Court of Bombay at Goa on Section 17(2) of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, 1974, TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday said the state government will not challenge the order in the Supreme Court for now.
Addressing media in the evening after meeting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and BJP’s state president Damodar Naik, Rane said, “The High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Section 17(2) of the TCP Act and issued guidelines for tweaking rules and bye-laws. Based on the directions of the court to TCP Board, we will take a decision on framing new rules and bye-laws for Section 17(2),” he said.
The minister also alleged that some people were running malicious campaign against the government by misleading people based on the high court’s judgment.
“I had a detailed discussion with the Chief Minister and party president on the matter. In order to avoid further litigation, we will not approach the Supreme Court for now,” he said.
Rane said that while upholding the validity of Section 17(2), the high court has also appreciated Section 39(A) of the TCP Act. He said the high court has read down the section for better clarity and added that the TCP Board will take a decision in the interest of people.
Rane reiterated that he will not be in favour of Regional Plan, “as it is not feasible for the state”. “Regional plan is not required for the state. Hence, the government will focus on zoning plans,” he said.
It may be noted that the high court had on Thursday struck down the rules and guidelines that enabled the operation of Section 17(2). The court also read down Section 17(2), pertaining to zone change.
While staying the operation of its order for a period of six weeks at the request of the state government, the high court directed the state not to grant any further permissions for now. The court had heard several petitions related to re-zoning of land parcels.
