Panaji: The Bombay high court has allowed Goa Foundation to amend its PIL challenging the constitutional validity of Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act, despite objections from govt.The amendment seeks to invalidate individual land-use approvals and construction permissions granted under Section 39A while the PIL was pending. The court has fixed the final hearing for Aug 25.Goa Foundation director Claude Alvares said the amendment seeks a direction that if Section 39A is struck down or diluted, as happened with Section 17(2), final approvals and ongoing constructions granted under it should also be deemed illegal and demolished.“The primary objection of govt was that the amendment was not necessary since the interim relief granted by the court already says that all the notifications under Section 39(A) are subject to the court’s verdict,” Alvares said.He said the TCP had begun issuing final approvals after the PIL was filed, when only provisional approvals had been granted earlier. “We told the court that this was unfair to us since that would make the petition infructuous,” he said.Goa Foundation has shared the amendment with govt and estimates that over 300 final approvals have been granted under Section 39A.“They are duping people into investing into dubious constructions and, therefore, the buyer should not waste their money,” Alvares said, adding that without the amendment, Goa Foundation would have to challenge each permission individually.The PIL challenges Section 39A, which allows govt to process individual applications for land-use zoning changes. The court’s interim order states that all approvals and notifications issued under the section will remain subject to the PIL’s final outcome.
