Facing allegations that he abused his position in changing the zone of a property he eventually bought, former Goa chief secretary Puneet Kumar Goel has told the High Court of Bombay at Goa he “signed more than 700… files in March 2024”, including the one in question.
The petition against Goel
In October, two Goans, Dhirendra Phadte and Jose Maria Miranda, filed a public interest litigation claiming that zoning of a property in village Aldona in Bardez taluka was “illegally” changed from paddy field to settlement in the Regional Plan 2021 under section 17(2) of the Goa Town and Country Planning Act, 1974. This section allows conversion of plots without public consultation if the owner approaches the department with a request to “correct inadvertent errors” or “rectify inconsistent/incoherent zoning” in the regional plan.
The petitioners alleged “colourable exercise of power” on part of government officials in the matter of zone change, claiming that Goel, who also held the charge of Secretary, Town and Country Planning, at the time, signed the file approving the zone conversion in March 2024, months before he purchased the property.
The petitioners claimed the expert committee of the government “arbitrarily” processed the application without following the process of law, thereby allowing destruction of the environment and paddy fields and coastal regulation zone area.
Goel’s response
In an affidavit filed before the High Court last week, Goel said the allegations made by the petitioners that he participated in the process of granting approval to benefit himself has no merit or substance. He said he had “no connection of whatsoever nature” with the owners of the property until he agreed to purchase it from them, “which happened after the correction of error in zoning was approved by the Government on March 11, 2024”.
He said he is a bona fide purchaser of the property and has not used or abused his power or position to gain any undue advantage or any benefit.
“As Chief Secretary and Secretary (TCP), I have signed more than 700… files in the month of March 2024. The expert committee of the government took a decision to approve the proposal moved… for correction of error to settlement and the same was accorded government approval,” he said.
He said the purchase of the property was made after all the permissions and approvals were obtained.
In the affidavit, Goel said he sold a flat in Gurgaon in October 2023 and was advised by his chartered accountant to invest in another residential premises for tax management purposes. He said he decided to purchase a residential property in Goa since he had plans to settle down there after retirement.
He said that sometime in April 2024, he contacted a person who dealt in properties in Goa, who in turn informed him of a house property available for sale in Aldona.
He said he purchased the property via a sale deed registered on July 5 for Rs 2.6 crore.
He said that prior to meeting the property dealer, he had no knowledge or information about the house property or its owners. Goel also denied the contentions of the petitioners that he had taken the route of correction of zone under section 17(2) of the TCP Act to undo and circumvent the provisions of the Goa Restriction on Transfer of Agricultural Land Act 2023, stating that “as he is a non-agriculturist and hence the sale of transaction itself is null and void as per section 3 of the said Act”.
Goel, a 1991-batch AGMUT cadre officer, was appointed Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Ministry of Tribal Affairs last month.
When contacted, he told The Indian Express, “Whatever I had to say, I have said in the affidavit.”
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