View this post on the web at https://gerardsgazette.substack.com/p/tcp-and-the-sub-judice-questions
Welcome to yet another edition of Gerard’s Gazette, a weekly newsletter in which I attempt to break down the events of the week gone by and offer a bit of context, as well as a dose of news you may have missed and news behind the news. If this is your first time here, thank you for signing up, and I hope you stick around! And, as always, if you like what you are reading, make sure you pass it around. Thanks for reading GERARD’s Gazette! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. The first week of the monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly done, and while there are still two weeks to go, the first week was eventful in itself not just for what was said and what was passed, but also what has left unsaid. Let’s start with a few obvious ones. The Mhadei issue was discussed in the legislative assembly in the light of yet more reports alleging that water is indeed being diverted [ https://substack.com/redirect/50689ce5-2862-4daf-bb54-87868727cb86?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] without any approvals. The Chief Minister, promised that they would go to the Supreme Court, yet again, with a contempt plea [ https://substack.com/redirect/588a3347-e1eb-426e-b5f1-a425ebf9af4b?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], as well as, controversially claimed [ https://substack.com/redirect/3ae00bb9-b1c1-4b0f-895b-37a09ef4d871?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], that he spoke to the Union Minister of Environment Forests and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav and was confident that the Union ministry would not be granting Karnataka permissions for taking forward the project [ https://substack.com/redirect/3ae00bb9-b1c1-4b0f-895b-37a09ef4d871?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]. It is a move that I think has backfired, because now, Karnataka has been shaken from its slumber and, whilst claiming that they are being unfairly punished by the BJP government at the Centre [ https://substack.com/redirect/d0385d99-12b9-4bd6-b817-1c8387ea3867?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], have also promised to go ahead with the project, no matter who tries to stop them [ https://substack.com/redirect/da87dd41-3bfd-4726-a1a4-0fa798980d61?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]. A bit of a self goal there, if you ask me. There also was the ‘Dog Bill’ [ https://substack.com/redirect/6478a95b-aef7-4fa4-9b87-103acf8c6550?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], which incidentally makes no mention of dogs, but which has been brought to ban (and sterilise) ferocious breeds of dogs, which was passed after a brief discussion, and the needless (but very deliberate) utterance by the Chief Minister [ https://substack.com/redirect/1ab6a828-b4ad-4228-8350-46453a4202e9?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] who said that Goa needs an anti-conversion law on the lines of Uttar Pradesh [ https://substack.com/redirect/a53fbea4-07e0-48a4-bcb8-8dd3bfe7fa60?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] claiming that there were forced conversions happening. He, of course, cited no real instances. But the real big one was what happened on Thursday. TCP and the ‘sub-judice’ questions On Thursday, July 24 the day questions relating to the Town and Country Planning Department (among others) were listed to be answered, the minister Vishwajit Rane stood up and announced that he wouldn’t be providing answers to around 12 questions [ https://substack.com/redirect/33ce5df5-2dd0-42cc-a3d6-bcae08e7f359?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] because they concern matters that are sub-judice before various courts. Essentially, some of these questions were seeking answers on the zone conversions being done under section 17(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act, which is now before the Supreme Court and section 39A, which is currently before the High Court. Rane cited sub-section 8 of Section 37 of the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Goa Legislative Assembly” [ https://substack.com/redirect/ed561130-3b4d-4147-a7ac-cebf9fa4c777?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], which reads that “no question shall ask information on a matter which is under adjudication by a Court of Law having jurisdiction in any part of India.” Now, this is one of those rules that you don’t even know exist until someone decides to use it against you -- and it’s so vaguely worded that it can quite literally be applied to any question that involves “a matter which is under adjudication by a court of law.” But as you all are aware, that hasn’t stopped governments past from answering questions on matters pending before various courts. For example, cases concerning the Mopa airport were pending before various courts for the longest time, but that didn’t stop answers on questions like land acquisition, viability of the airport, rehabilitation, etc nature of the agreement to be signed with the prospective bidders, etc. The same goes for mining cases, cases against loud music, illegal constructions, etc. Legislative assembly questions or LAQs as they are popularly called, are an important source of government data and therefore accountability. As insisted by the opposition, who to their credit raised this issue unitedly* and vociferously, they have a constitutional right to debate issues and seek answers on matters of public interest. The asterix on the word unitedly is there simply because only six of the seven opposition MLAs rushed to the well of the house to protest the ‘non-replies’. Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party did not join the rest. The other rule that Rane cited was Section 49 (3) of the aforementioned rules which states that “if the Minister is of opinion that the information required by a member cannot be given in public interest, he will say so. The refusal of a Minister to supply the information on this ground cannot be raised as a matter of privilege nor can a motion for an adjournment of the House be brought on this ground.” Or in other words, the replies were being denied in ‘public interest’. There’s a lot I want to say, but I’m not going to ascribe motives to the Minister’s decision to (initially) not provide replies to the questions asked. Clearly, there are rules that allow him to not provide replies, which he has duly cited. You are welcome to draw your own conclusions. Instead, I will only report on what members of the opposition said in response to being denied their replies. They, rightfully, questioned whether this was an attempt to hide information [ https://substack.com/redirect/c8a51f7f-ac3e-40b0-b21e-f9aa7318683f?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] of certificates of change of zone and clearances being granted under various recently amended sections of the Town and Country Planning Act, which are now challenged before the High Court (some of which are now before the Supreme Court). They also questioned how replies were being denied, when at the same time, clearances continued to be processed. If answers are being denied saying the matters are sub-judice, then clearances should also be stopped, so went the refrain voiced by Borkar, Viegas, Alemão among others. Thankfully, better sense prevailed. In the afternoon session of the same day, the Chief Minister and Speaker assured the protesting opposition members that the answers to the questions would be provided on August 7 [ https://substack.com/redirect/24665ebd-30ee-417a-a3f9-074a7e26ec08?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], that is the penultimate day of the current session of the assembly. Something is better than nothing, I guess, which means, the public at large will still be able to receive the information that the opposition members were asking. What we will likely not get is a debate in the House based on the answers provided. That is perhaps for another day. Winning the battle but losing the war? Mandrem MGP MLA Jit Arolkar made a zero hour mention seeking to know the “steps taken by the government to recognize Marathi as ‘Rajbhasha’ (official language) and notify it as [a] second official language.” [ https://substack.com/redirect/1b9a4eba-5446-422b-b2b5-1efac432ddb6?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] This was met by howls of disapproval including from some unexpected quarters. Now zero-hour mentions don’t really mean much, but there’s a bigger picture I want to paint here, which I’ll come to in a bit. The following day the Revolutionary Goans Party MLA Viresh Borkar moved a private members’ resolution seeking that “the terms ‘Goans’ and ‘Persons of Goan Origin’ [ https://substack.com/redirect/933f7947-ecec-42db-a5ab-9534639ffb69?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] be clearly defined in law to protect the identity and rights of Goan people. In doing so, a proper policy can be framed to benefit Goan people and prevent demographic change in the Goan landscape.” This, as you might have heard, led to a massive disruption. Papers were flung skywards in scenes [ https://substack.com/redirect/f75ef13f-4a15-4ebc-92a9-86bd02814b5f?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] that were reminiscent of FIFA president Sepp Blatter being showered by fake dollar bills [ https://substack.com/redirect/23767204-584e-4b9b-b4c5-452374293d9c?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], and ended when Borkar was marshalled out of the House. His grouse was simple: That he be allowed to table and speak on his resolution, after which the government was free to have it put to the vote (and defeated). But the government would have none of it. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant cited two instances on legal documents where a ‘Goan’ was already legally defined. The first he said was a Gazette notification dated 10th February 1995, where according to him it was already made clear who could call himself Goan. I’m not sure which Gazette he’s referring to, but I couldn’t find anything in the Gazette notification dated 10th February 1995 [ https://substack.com/redirect/40caf638-ca62-4507-97de-17a65791dfdd?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] that had anything to do with defining a Goan. The other was a reference to the “The Goa Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceeding Act, 2012” [ https://substack.com/redirect/a419bb60-8d87-49a1-9d61-40bcf5a27242?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] which in the first part mentions who the law is applicable to and in doing so defines who is a ‘Goan’. Since a ‘Goan’ was already defined, it was Sawant’s case that there was no question of allowing a discussion on a resolution that, in effect, sought to do the same thing. Lots of pandemonium and scuffling later, Borkar was marshalled out of the house, his resolution not entertained and it was Carlos turn to table his resolution [ https://substack.com/redirect/54b4339a-6255-4084-9eab-c84598dabee7?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] seeking that “the Government takes steps to introduce Romi Konkani in the Schools in Goa considering that Romi Konkani script is in use for more than 450 years in Goa and is responsible for the survival of Konkani language during the Colonial regime…” There’s more to the resolution, but for brevity’s sake I’ve quoted only the first part. The good thing about this resolution is it seems to be taking the more practical approach of introducing (or attempting to) Romi Konkani in schools, rather than aiming for the (seemingly unreachable) amendment to the Official Language Act. [ https://substack.com/redirect/7085e693-208a-4641-9208-4f2484f2be7d?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] (As an aside, if you want to promote Romi Konkani, you should start by promoting Romi Konkani (in whatever way possible), rather than expecting the government to do something, which they clearly aren’t in the mood to do). But nonetheless… Despite support, largely from opposition MLAs, this resolution was defeated 24-6, (the strength of the house is 40) which meant that at least 9 of those in the ruling side didn’t show up for it. A notable absence was Aleixo Lourenço, the independent legislator from Raia who was conveniently missing from the house during the voting. The point is… The reason I’m mentioning all these (together) is to simply make a point -- one that I’ve made befor [ https://substack.com/redirect/ca2d4062-92eb-4257-856e-083287fc38e0?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ]e -- that while these are all noble causes to fight for, they all risk playing into the ruling party’s hands -- not unlike how the RGP (and presence of parties like the TMC) ensured sectarian divisions meant that the opposition vote was hopelessly split at the 2022 assembly polls. Is it just a coincidence that demands for official status for Marathi, enhanced status for Romi Konkani are being increasingly made (now after all these years) in a manner that seems to suggest they are going to crescendo come the 2027 assembly elections? Or is there more than what meets the eye. This isn’t to suggest that either of these issues isn’t worth fighting for. But I, for one, do smell a rat that someone (or a group of people) is cooking up a plan behind the scenes to ensure a neat vote split come 2025. Even if you don’t agree with me, it’s something to keep in mind, and watch out for. Is Goa’s property market slowing down? According to a report by Savills India [ https://substack.com/redirect/cc15e2d7-f087-4bfc-aca8-7a7da5fa81f1?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ], a combination of factors like oversupply and lower demand has meant that prices of (high end) villas in Goa have stabilised. [ https://substack.com/redirect/5674614b-b0a7-4009-a20f-3849283d0e57?j=eyJ1IjoiMTdkMzMzIn0.fgOj6myyAgvFoWmj-LgXwMrpDLUf7f7HnFNWVfgXm9c ] Is this true though? And, if true, is it good news for us folk who, not even in our dreams will be able to afford one. Now I’m no property expert. But I’ve been following some videos put out by influencers and brokers and brokers styled as influencers, who also appear to have gone cold regarding Goa’s property market. The common refrain is this: That property prices are already very high, and if you are deciding to buy as an “investment”, the prices are unlikely to appreciate much beyond where they already are right now and as such the returns on your investment aren’t going to be great. So what exactly happened and why has Goa’s property market seemingly slowed. Well, for one, a lot of people bought property in Goa thinking that they’ll lease it out on short term rentals (AirBnBs, etc) and get themselves a second source of passive income. Well it turns out, they weren’t alone and everybody else also thought the same thing and long story short, the price to rent ratio hasn’t exactly turned out the way they thought it would be and with maintenance costs not coming down a whole bunch of people who bought pre-Covid or Covid time properties are now looking to sell. Then there’s the other group of people who thought they’d come and live here, work remotely, etc. and it’s worked out for (some of) them. But for others, life in Goa, its power cuts, irregular water supply and general absence of conveniences readily available in the city has meant they are not spending as much time in Goa as they thought they would. Besides, work from home hasn't picked up the way people thought it would. But is that good news for those of us who don’t want to lose our green hills for houses that are going to remain empty? Not really. The real estate magnates have really deep pockets and will be more than willing to wait -- even if it takes years -- for prices to start rising again. So not only will they not lower prices, they will also keep selling the alleged success story of ‘investing’ in Goa to gullible buyers who don’t know better. That’s all I have for you this week. Make sure you comment or write in, should you have something, anything to say. I would also invite you to contribute via sending in your views, especially on a subject you know something about, and I will be happy to include it as part of the newsletter. You are also welcome to write in with leads and tip-offs or anything that you think might be interesting enough to include here. As always, please share and help spread the word. Until next week, then. Tchau! Thanks for reading GERARD’s Gazette! This post is public so feel free to share it. 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