IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
(PANAJI BENCH)
Dhabe H.W. Dr. Da Silva E.S., JJ.
Michael Charles D’Souza .... Petitioner.
Versus
Ganesh V. Gaonkar others.... Respondents.
Writ Petition No. 80 of 1986, decided on 28/29-1-1991.
judgment
Advocates appeared :
F. Rebello, for petitioner.
S.G. Dessai, for respondents Nos. 1 to 12.
J. Dias, A.G., for respondent No. 16.
2. Briefly, the facts are that the petitioner is a 'jonoeiro' of the Comunidade of Pilerne, Bardez, Goa. He made an application on 17-8-1984 addressed to the Lieutenant Governor of Goa for allotment of a plot of land belonging to the Comunidade of Pilerne, known as ""Goddi-Baim"" and bearing lot No. 341 and surveyed under Survey No. 53/1. According to the petitioner, he did not and does not own any land. On 21-8-1984, the petitioner received a letter from the Administrator of Comunidades of Bardez, i.e. the respondent No. 14, that he should give a fresh application giving all the particulars as required by Article 329 of the Code of Comunidades as also a site plan of the plot in duplicate. Accordingly, the petitioner submitted a fresh application on 1-12-1984 for allotment of the plot of land to him which was received in the office of the respondent No. 14 on 4-12-1984. At this stage, it may be stated that the petitioner claimed a plot of land for residential purposes. On 19-2-1985, the petitioner received a letter from the respondent No. 14 inquiring from him as to whether he would be agreeable to make the required infrastructure in respect of the plot. The petitioner communicated to him on 27-2-1985 that he was agreeable to provide infrastructure as required. Accordingly, he requested by his letter dated 17-6-1985 that he should be allotted Plot No. 25 of the property ""Goddi-Baim"" comprising Plot No. 21 bearing Survey No. 53/21.
3. It may be seen that the respondents 1 to 13 had also made applications dated 1-8-1984 for allotment of land to them from the Comunidade of Pilerne. It may also be seen that the respondents 1 to 13 are Government servants and that they had claimed allotment of land under the administrative instructions in force at that time as per which the land could be allotted to Government servants without public auction. The land was allotted to the respondents 1 to 12 on 10-2-1985, on which date the Amending Act which had come into force on 5-1-1985 was in force and as per Article 334-A inserted in the Code of Comunidades by the said Amending Act, the land could be granted to the Government servants without auction. As regards the application made by the petitioner, it appears that no final orders were passed upon the said application and the said application is still pending consideration before the appropriate authorities. In the meanwhile, since the respondents 1 to 12 are allotted land for residential purposes without public auction, the petitioner has moved the instant Writ Petition challenging the validity of the Amending Act as well as the allotment of land made to the respondents 1 to 12. Although the respondent No. 13 is joined in this Writ Petition as a party, since the Government has stated in its affidavit that no land is allotted to him, the petitioner does not pursue any grievance in this petition against the respondent No. 13. According to the learned Counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner has preferred the instant Writ Petition in his capacity as a 'jonoeiro' of comunidade of Pilerne and not as a claimant to whom the land is not allotted by the State Government pursuant to the application made by him.
4. In order to appreciate the contentions raised by the petitioner and also the locus standi which the petitioner claims, it is necessary to briefly refer to the history of Comunidades. According to the previous history of the region known as State of Goa, the original residents of the village were known as 'Gaoncars' and their holding of the village was known as 'Gaoncaria'.
Manohar S. Prabhu v. Union of India
gpt-4
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