PANAJI
The Goa government has dropped all further proceedings against former Chief Town Planner Rajesh Naik in the controversial Town and Country Planning (TCP) fee under-recovery case.
The decision, issued by the Vigilance Department, comes nearly a year after Naik was suspended just before his retirement, following strong observations by the High Court of Bombay at Goa over possible loss to the State exchequer owing to under-levying of conversion and zoning correction fees in multiple TCP cases. He was suspended on April 30, 2025, after authorities found prima facie that lower fees had been levied contrary to the revised notification.
In its order dated May 5, the department concluded that since the pending dues had eventually been recovered in most cases and permissions cancelled in the remaining ones, no further action was necessary against Naik.
“Taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances including the action initiated by Shri Rajesh J Naik… which has led to recovery of additional fees in 40 out of 47 cases and cancellation of permissions granted in the balance seven cases where additional fees were not paid, the Competent Authority is pleased to order that… there would be no further proceedings against Shri Rajesh J Naik,” the order signed by Vigilance Director Abhir Hege said.
The controversy arose after the TCP Department, through a notification on March 28, 2024, revised the fee structure, fixed at Rs 1000 per sq mtrs, for rectifying inconsistent or incoherent zoning provisions that effectively resulted in conversion of land into settlement or commercial settlement zones. However, failed to apply to all approvals granted post the notification and allegedly continued applying old rates in several cases.
The issue later reached the High Court through a writ petition filed by private petitioners with the Court on March 5, 2025, observing that, prima facie, the allegations were found to be correct and quite serious as they directly affected the revenue of the State, ultimately the public exchequer. The court directed the State to immediately verify the matter and recover the fees.
The State government eventually clarified on February 21, 2025, that the revised fee structure had to be applied. Subsequently, recovery proceedings were initiated in 47 identified cases
