Panaji: The cost of deploying high-ranking officers to personally supervise barricading of a Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) land parcel encroached upon will be recovered from those who obstructed the court’s orders, said Bombay high court on Friday.Earlier this week, HC directed the collector and the SP (South) to personally oversee security arrangements to enable MPA to secure the property after an illegal shed, Murgaoncha Raja, was demolished last month. A large police contingent was deployed, anticipating a law-and-order situation after a mob had earlier stopped MPA from barricading the site post-demolition.The court has now directed the SP, South, to submit details of the total number of police personnel deployed at the site, along with their ranks, for ensuring compliance with its order.The division bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar also asked the SP to submit a calculation of the costs incurred by the state, based on applicable per-day or per-hour rates prescribed for providing police protection to private parties.“This is to ensure that such costs are recovered, in the first instance, from the parties who have interfered with the implementation of this court’s order,” HC said.Two people accused of preventing MPA officials from barricading the property last month were present in court as directed, and told the bench they work as rent-a-cab operators. Stressing the need for the rule of law, the court remarked that such lawlessness was not previously seen in Goa, and noted the disputed area measures only 84 sqm.“We are really concerned that Goa was not like this. This is some new trend,” the bench observed.Calling it a waste of administrative resources, the court said it was a loss to the nation to keep a collector in attendance for such work, adding that law-and-order matters should be handled at the lowest rung.
