Twitter
Advertisement

Goa hotel will be razed as it encroached on pathway

The court also directed the Goa government to reoccupy a piece of land that it had acquired for a hotel equipped with yoga and healthcare.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin
Upholding people’s right to access pathway that they had been using for time immemorial, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Goa’s upcoming beach resort Fomento Resorts and Hotels to demolish the 1,000 metres of illegal extension of the building.

The court also directed the Goa government to reoccupy a piece of land that it had acquired for a hotel equipped with yoga and healthcare.

Judges said the Fomento didn’t have the intention to make the health facilities and yoga centres to general public. A bench of Justice BN Agrawal and GS Singhvi upheld a judgment of the Bombay High Court (Goa bench) that had also directed the hotel to demolish the extended portion of its building within three months, for it encroached on the pathway leading to the beach.

Judges also accepted the proposition made by Goa Foundation’s lawyer Indira Jaising asserting that under the public trust doctrine, people couldn’t be denied access to the natural resources including the pathway.

“Natural resources including forests, rivers and sea shores are held by the state as a trustee on behalf of the people and especially the future generations. The state cannot transfer public trust properties to a private party, if such a transfer interferes with the rights of the public and the court can invoke the public trust doctrine and take affirmative action for protecting the rights of people to have access to light, air and water and also for protecting rivers, sea, tanks, trees, forests and associated natural eco-systems,” the court ruled.
Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement