Panaji: The division bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa today admitted a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging section 16B of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1974, which speaks about case to case basis land conversion under Regional Plan 2021.
The division bench comprising Justice R.M. Borde and Justice Prithviraj Chauhan admitted the PIL which is filed by the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) and Goa Foundation (GF).
The Court directed notice will separately issued to the State’s Advocate General on request of the petitioners for interim relief, staying the operation of any changes made at the private request of parties under section 16B of the Act.
This Petition is filed in public interest seeking for quashing and setting aside provisions of law (Sec. 16B of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act and proviso to Regulation 6.1.1(d) of the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations, 2010) that seek to allow ad-hoc and arbitrary conversions of privately owned plots in the Regional Plan based on individual applications from such parties.
