My association with Public Interest Litigations (PILs) goes back to over three decades. By petitioning relevant authorities, moving the High Court and even knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court, I have succeeded in taking up various issues of public interest. I feel humbled that some Public Interest litigations filed by me have impacted the civic and political life in the State of Goa.
My debut in public life began in 1979 when I had the privilege to be in the forefront of the 11 day very successful State-wide student agitation demanding blanket 50% bus concession for all students when Mrs. Shashikala Kakodkar was the Chief Minister. Over the years I have never hesitated to take on the rich and mighty over a wide range of issues. From senior politicians to well connected bureaucrats I have not shied away from pursuing a whole range of issues. Even last year’s October 13 brutal attempt on my life at a Panaji restaurant has not dissuaded me. In 1985, when the then Panjim Municipal Council (now CCP) had leased out Azad Maidan to the Delhi based All India Stall Holders Association to run a sale exhibition for eight months, I was able to move a petition before the Collector of Goa who directed the exhibitors to vacate Azad Maidan. The Collector’s decision was also upheld by the High Court. On 7th March 1986, I got the then Councillor of Panaji Municipal Council now my colleague at Bar, Adv. Amol Naik disqualified by the Director of Municipal Administration for having as a councilor appeared against the Municipal Council in violation of the Municipalities Act. Amol Naik was the first municipal councilor in Goa to be disqualified. In Dec 1986, during the Konkani language agitation, I was ordered to be detained by the then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane under the National Security Act. On appeal I was however ordered to be released by the Bombay High Court at Goa. Obviously my tryst with judicial activism was impacting powers that be. In the year 2000, my name figured in the Goa Government’s list of Goondas along with now Urban Development Minister Joaquim Alemao and current Education Minister Babush Monseratte. The authorities however promptly deleted my name from the list stating that the name crept in by error. When the then Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane appointed his neighbour and family friend industrialist, the late David Menezes as Chairman of Panjim Planning and Development Authority, I unsuccessfully challenged it through a PIL contending that David Menezes had no knowledge of Town and Country Planning. The matter was pursued right to the Supreme Court which also did not intervene in the matter ruling that the appointment was the prerogative of the State Government. The appointment of Mr. Esvonta Porobo as Chairman of the Administrative Tribunal without the concurrence of the High Court, as required by law was successfully challenged. Mr. Porobo resigned and was later appointed to the post by following the required procedures. However I unsuccessfully challenged the appointment of the late Mr. Avinash Vaze as Chairman of Goa Public Service Commission, having to take it up right to the Supreme Court. In 2001 when the then BJP Government introduced the Dayanand Social Security Scheme and the application forms were only available with MLAs, I pursued the issue before the High Court and got directions issued that forms be made available to the public at government offices. The BJP government’s attempt in July 2002 to appoint Mr. Dynaneshwar Pednekar as Director of Education was foiled when I moved the High Court stating that a person who had fudged his daughter’s birth details could not be appointed as the Director of Education. I pursued Public Interest litigations demanding elimination of stray dogs, opposing the mandatory use of helmets and industrial pollution at Cuncolim. Whereas, stray dogs continue to plague us, helmets thankfully are restricted to highways and the pollution at Cuncolim is now under control and monitored. Though I am a Roman Catholic this did not deter me from taking up the issue of the alleged molestation of a minor girl by the then Parish Priest of Ribandar Church Fr. Newton Rodrigues. The Catholic Church retaliated by conniving with the nuns of a Ribandar convent in filing a criminal case against me which is still pending. While moving the High Court seeking directions to the Goa Police to investigate the fraud at IT Habitat at Dona Paula, I felt it my duty to highlight and expose the corruption indulged by Former IT and Urban Development secretary Mr. R.P.Pal and his wife against whom F.I.Rs were registered by the police. The issue of the exorbitant fees being paid to the Advocate General of Goa Mr. Subodh Kantak had to be vigorously pursued. After raising the issue of the Advocate General’s fees, the Goa government has now slashed the fees payable to him. Mr. Subodh Kantak who was being paid an average of ten lakhs a month by the revised fees now can be paid a maximum of Rs five lakhs only. Advocate General Mr. Subodh Kantak has filed a criminal defamation case and also a civil suit against me seeking 15 crores by way of compensation. The Civil suit has been stayed but in the criminal case Advocate General Mr. Subodh Kantak may be feeling more like an accused than a complainant. Having exposed various acts of omission and commission by the Pratapsingh Rane & family, I received a threatening call from the Health Minister Mr. , Vishvajit Rane on 31st July 2007 against whom I have filed a private criminal complaint before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Panaji. The Health minister faces charges under sec 506 (II) of Indian Penal Code, which carries a punishment of imprisonment of seven years or fine, or both. Mr. Vishwajit Rane is Goa's first Minister to face trial in a private Criminal complaint on threat to kill charges. Mr. Rane has strongly objected to me summoning his wife Divya as a witness in the case. The matter is now before the Supreme Court of India. I have submitted to the Supreme Court that since the alleged threatening call undisputedly came from the mobile of the Mrs. Divya Rane, the circumstances under which the mobile came in the possession of Mr. Vishwajit Rane are all facts within the knowledge of Mrs. Divya Rane and so she is a very material witness. Former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Mr. V.A. Mohta is defending Goa's Health Minister Mr. Vishwajit Rane in the Supreme Court. Mr. Mohta, a Senior Counsel is also a former Judge of Bombay High Court. I am also pursuing the case against Education Minister Mr. Babush Monseratte for having lied on oath that he had passed SSC though having completed only 7th Std. Recently the Bombay High Court of Goa on a public Interest litigation filed by me has set aside the appointments of Mr. Francis Silveira and Mr. Nilkanth Harlankar as Parliamentary secretaries. The other issue of Cabinet status bestowed on EDC Chairman Mr.Agnelo Fernandes, Deputy Chairman of Goa Planning Board Dr. Wilfred De Souza and Commissioner of NRI affairs Mr. Eduardo Faleiro is being pursued before the Supreme Court. Due to the rampant political interference in the functioning of the police I challenged through a petition the recent transfer of Panaji SDPO Mr. Sammy Tavares, being in violation of Supreme Court directives. The matter has been admitted by the High Court. I have also, in a letter to the Chief Justice of India sought contempt proceedings against those responsible for Sammy Tavares’s illegal transfer while also pointing out another illegal transfer of then Panaji SDPO Mr. Mohan Naik on 27th Feb last year. As I turn 50 next year its time to be penning down my memoirs. The chapter on PILs will definitely be a very long one. Aires Rodrigues Ribandar
