PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has extended the deadline for village panchayats to file sworn affidavits detailing permissions granted to commercial establishments, setting a new cut-off of March 30.
The direction comes as part of an ongoing inquiry into the fatal blaze at Birch by Romeo Lane in Arpora on December 6, 2025, which claimed 25 lives. The court has already widened the scope of the probe to examine systemic lapses in granting licences and construction approvals.
The Division Bench of Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit Jamsandekar, during the ongoing hearing on Monday, granted additional time after noting some VPs had submitted affidavits on the scheduled hearing day, whereas several others are yet to comply.
The case is being heard as a suo motu public interest litigation. During an earlier hearing, the then Division Bench led by Justice Suman Shyam had termed the incident “a clear case of violation of fundamental rights.”
Advocate General Devidas Pangam told the court that stringent corrective measures were necessary and accountability must be fixed. He said the accused were in custody and that multiple inquiries, including departmental proceedings against suspended government officials, were underway.
Pangam had further submitted that the structure where the fire broke out had no construction licence, no clearance from the Town and Country Planning Department, and no statutory permissions. “In the guise of granting a repair licence and house number, a fraud has been committed,” he argued, adding that the structure had come up illegally and that a trade licence had been sought without specifying a house number.
Accepting the need for a wider audit, the Bench directed VP secretaries to disclose, through affidavits, the number of construction permissions, trade licences and occupancy certificates issued to commercial units.
