SGPIAG/2003-04/09 06.09.2003 To, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Goa Secretariat Panaji - GOA ***********
This refers to the points raised at the NRI Facilitation Centre meet held on 14.8.2003 at EDC Conference Office wherein it was stated that : NRI - Goans complain that their land/houses are either encroached upon/tresspassed illegally occupied and that the unauthorised occupants have even succeeded in getting the property transferred,vide Agreement of Sale and Deed of Conveyance which are more often merely NOTORISED and in some cases even documents that have been registered in the Office of the Sub-Registrar or in the Survey Department suffer deficiency. (It may be noted that unlike the Portuguese law on notorising documents the Indian law is merely attestation without ascertaining the veracity of the parties or the object of consideration. One can easily NOTORISE the Sale of any government building and no questions will be asked as to the titles of the seller) Further the entries on the Record of Rights and mutation have been effected by these persons and there are inumerable disputed cases which are never disposed off though they have changed hands several times. All this is apparently either because of a loop-hole in the law or because these government officials in the Revenue department are aware that the onus of proving the adverse possession lies in the landowner and only a long drawn litigation from subordinate court to the Apex Court can redress this grievance but eventually demoralises the NRI who end up in frustration and abandon these lands. They further state and rightly so that while the Portuguese laws in such matters were full proof; it is only after the introduction of the Transfer of Property Act 1952 in Goa in November 1964 and thereafter with the Cadastral Survey in 1972 that there was a lax in the rules with full political patronage. Some of the elceted representatives past and present are themselves beneficiaries of these loopholes. The Mundcar Act and the Land to the Tiller Act would not bring such pathological animosity as it exists today as seen from the piling of long drawn cases and costly litigation between the landowner and the tiller or the mundcar if the Land ceiling Act was enacted. Another complaint is that the persons appointed as Surveyors or Talathis, Mamlatdars are non goans etc who were either surplus staff or not conversant with the Portuguese land revenue reforms and this has created avoidable problems Today it is seen that mutation or entries in the Record of Rights are done arbitarily sometimes the supporting documents are not relied upon and most cases are completed in absentia. A mere public notice will suffice as deemed notice irrespective of whether the owner is in India or abroad. Even the Nil Certificate of Encumberance insisted upon since 1/11/1964 till the date of mortgage or conveyance has no meaning because in the absence of the history of transactions being recorded in the Land Register the veracity of the Certificate could be relied upon till the last entry on these books. Several landowners who religiously pay their property tax and continue to do so are shocked to note that the records are not available with the local bodies and one is asked to furnish the last reciept as proof thereof for payment of arrears. Another major flaw is that while the landowner can ascertain his title with documents, merely because of a false entry on the records made by the authorities at the behest of the encroacher or tresspaser the landowner has to resort to the litigation to etch out that name which cause mental agony and financial losses. The liberal patronage by successive post Liberation Governments to regularise the illegalities owing to political expediency has further dismayed the landowners as is now being done in the case of illegal constructions since June 2000 on Communidade land which otherwise would not stand the legal test. Further even where houses were entrusted to the caretaker, the rent control act is the only available recourse to evict or after falsifying documents of power water and house tax they claim to be legal owners. Since NRIs families are a dispersed in almost all parts of the world it is difficult to co-ordinate and resort to litigations due to changed citizenships of some of the co-owners. After the gulf boom in the early 70's and more recently with the joint families shrinking into nuclear families fragmentation of land has been rapid and so the vicious circle that has sucked the blood of the NRI Goans. Suggestions: In their considered opinion they feel that if the Land Registration Number Record books are maintained as per pre-Liberation practice much of these problems could be solved. It may be noted that this Register carries the earlier narration on the parties involved, amount of transaction involved in the mortagage records etc The title right from ancestors and how it devolved to the present owner Non Resident Indians ( Goans) who have been so dispossessed of their properties would prefer to enlist themselves on a specially created register, on payment of a fee of Rs.1000/- maintained by the NRI Facilitation Centre. A separate search/investigation fee could be levied for retrieving all the relevant documents including preparing a brief for each such case on CD Roms and settlement of disputes. Ex-Revenue officials could be empanelled by the NRI Facilitation Centre in each Taluka to attend to these matters. Where the matters are subjudiced these matters could be brought under specially appointed quasi judicial authorities or the Fast track courts for expeditious disposal of thecases. The priority to be decided upon the merits of each case. In the case of immovable property yet NOT ENCUMBERED they would prefer to submit details of the title deeds and relevant documentation in CD Rom and such properties hosted on a website of the Goa Government so that parties could be forewarned by way of abundant caution in the event of illegal conveyance etc. The list of such properties must also be sent to the Land Registration Office and other Revenue authorities viz; Settlement and Land records also the District Registrar Village Panchayats, Municipalities, Town & Country Planning Offices, Planning Development Authorities so that transactions pertaining to these properties are double checked. The Government may also enact suitable legislation to plug the loop holes by constituting a body of legal experts land revenue officials and affected NRIs Goans to amend the Goa Land Revenue Code etc We trust that the views collated from the NRI Goans and those resident within India but outside Goa will be deliberated further. Thanking you. for SOUTH GOA PUBLIC INTEREST ACTION GROUP Terence Mazarelo PRESIDENT (SGPIAG) ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Promos: Win TVs, Bikes, DVD players & more! Go to http://in.promos.yahoo.com ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
