Goa: Govt-appointed commission submits report on land grab cases to CM

Panaji, Nov 1 (PTI) The Justice V K Jadhav (retd) Commission on Wednesday submitted its report on the land grabbing cases in Goa to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

The one-man panel was constituted by the state government in January after the crime branch's Special Investigation Team registered 111 cases of land grabbing,involving 93 parcels of land and properties admeasuring 1.5 lakh square metres across Goa.

Talking to reporters after submitting the report, Justice Jadhav (retired) said the exercise of filing the report has been completed in a “record time of ten months.” “I have submitted the report. Now the ball is in the CM's court,” he said while refusing to divulge details.

The chief minister said the report has been forwarded to the state chief secretary and the Advocate General.

"The recommendations made in the report would be used to save large tracts of land in the future, which otherwise would have been sold by the scam masters," he said.

Sawant said at least seven main "scam masters" are involved in the land grab scandal who used to sell the “no man's land” as well as the land owned by the government.

“The no man's land is the property of the people who have left the state,” the chief minister added.

Sawant said he had directed the state chief secretary to initiate the process to identify the "no man's land" and repatriate it to the government.

“We can give specific time to these people to claim their properties,” he said. PTI RPS NSK