The Bombay high court has sought a response from the Goa government and the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department in three petitions challenging the state government's decision to withdraw permissions granted under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act in St Andre constituency.
The petitions, filed by Dempo Properties and Investments Pvt Ltd through its director Yogish Dempo, contend that they had received provisional approval for change of zone of their lands under Section 39A. The petitioners argue that their permissions were withdrawn following pressure from public protestors, and without any prior notice or opportunity to be heard.
On February 26, to end the hunger strike by St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar and widespread protests by Goans opposing land conversions under Section 39A, the state government handed over an order from the TCP department stating that provisional and final land conversions under Section 39A in St Andre constituency were suspended with immediate effect.
The high court will hear the case on June 17.
Bail Granted to YouTuber's Brother
In a separate case, the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) in Vasco on Tuesday granted conditional bail to Madhav Khattar, the younger brother of YouTuber Gautam, who faces allegations of outraging religious feelings and promoting enmity between communities.
Madhav, represented by advocate A Prabhudessai, refuted the allegations made by the police but stated that he would fully abide by the conditions of bail. The defense counsel argued that Madhav is 18 years old, a law student, and has no criminal antecedents. Prabhudessai further argued that the FIR does not attribute any hate speech to Madhav, and that his mere presence in the audience does not attract provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to the offenses specified in the FIR.
JMFC Pooja Desai allowed Madhav's bail plea, considering his age and status as a student. She also noted that the investigation against Madhav was complete, no recovery was to be made from him, and the main speaker has already been arrested.
The JMFC ordered that Madhav be released on bail upon submission of a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and a surety of the same amount. Additional Public Prosecutor L Sawant appeared for the police.
