{"id":8257,"date":"2026-08-13T23:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaonkaari.com\/panchayat-fails-to-act-in-30-days-deputy-director-to-take-over-powers-against-verla-canca-structure\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T23:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:05:20","slug":"panchayat-fails-to-act-in-30-days-deputy-director-to-take-over-powers-against-verla-canca-structure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaonkaari.com\/mr\/panchayat-fails-to-act-in-30-days-deputy-director-to-take-over-powers-against-verla-canca-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"Panchayat Fails to Act in 30 Days; Deputy Director to Take Over Powers Against Verla-Canca Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Panaji, Aug. 13: In a significant development concerning an allegedly offending structure at Verla-Canca in Bardez, the Bombay High Court at Goa has recorded the statement of the Deputy Director of Panchayats, North Goa, that the authority would assume the powers of the Village Panchayat and proceed against the structure after the Panchayat failed to take action within the statutory period of 30 days.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The order was passed on August 12, 2026, by the Division Bench comprising Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit S. Jamsandekar in Writ Petition No. 1937 of 2026 (F), filed by Usha Albuquerque against the State of Goa through the Chief Secretary and eight others.<\/p>\n

The case concerns a particular structure situated in land bearing Survey No. 106 of Verla village, Canca.<\/p>\n

According to the court order, a statement was made on behalf of the Deputy Director of Panchayats, North Goa, that since the Panchayat had not taken action within 30 days under Section 66(3) of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, it was considered appropriate for the Deputy Director to assume the Panchayat’s powers under Section 66(5) and proceed to take action against the offending structure.<\/p>\n

High Court restrains Panchayat<\/h3>\n

Taking note of this position, the High Court issued a specific direction to the Secretary of the Village Panchayat of Verla-Canca not to deal with the particular structure until further orders.<\/p>\n

The Panchayat has also been restrained from granting any licence, occupancy certificate or house number to the structure situated in Survey No. 106 until further orders of the High Court.<\/p>\n

The direction effectively prevents the Panchayat from granting further administrative recognition to the structure while the proceedings remain pending.<\/p>\n

Court questions electricity connection<\/h3>\n

The High Court has also turned its attention to the electricity connection provided to the structure.<\/p>\n

The Executive Engineer of the Electricity Department has been directed to submit a report before the High Court by the next date of hearing, explaining the circumstances under which the electricity connection was released to the structure.<\/p>\n

Significantly, the Court has clarified that the pendency of the writ petition would not prevent the Executive Engineer from taking whatever action is considered appropriate under the Electricity Act.<\/p>\n

This means that the Electricity Department is free to independently examine the legality and circumstances surrounding the connection and initiate action permissible under law without waiting for the final disposal of the petition.<\/p>\n

Panchayat’s inaction under scanner<\/h3>\n

The most significant aspect of the order is the recorded failure of the local Panchayat to act within the prescribed 30-day period.<\/p>\n

With the Deputy Director of Panchayats now proposing to exercise powers under Section 66(5), the matter has moved beyond the jurisdictional response of the local Panchayat and into direct intervention by the higher Panchayat authority.<\/p>\n

The development also raises questions over how an allegedly offending structure could progress to the stage of obtaining an electricity connection while action concerning its status remained pending.<\/p>\n

However, the High Court’s present order should not be interpreted as a final adjudication declaring the structure illegal. The proceedings are still pending, and the order primarily records the stand of the Deputy Director and imposes restrictions pending further consideration.<\/p>\n

The petitioner’s advocate also informed the Court that all office objections in the petition had been cleared. The Registry has been directed to register the matter if it finds that the objections have indeed been removed.<\/p>\n

The High Court has now listed the case for September 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

The order puts the spotlight firmly on the functioning of the Verla-Canca Panchayat as well as the circumstances in which the electricity connection was granted, with both issues likely to come under further scrutiny when the matter returns before the High Court.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bombay High Court at Goa has recorded that the Deputy Director of Panchayats, North Goa, will assume the powers of the Village Panchayat and proceed against an allegedly offending structure at Verla-Canca after the Panchayat failed to take action within the statutory period of 30 days. The High Court also restrained the Panchayat from granting any licence, occupancy certificate or house number, and directed the Electricity Department to explain the power connection.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t