NGT Western Zone Dismisses Appeal Against GCZMA Demolition Order After Panchayat Disowns Key Documents
The National Green Tribunal's Western Zone Bench upheld a demolition order for illegal coastal structures in Mandrem, Goa, after Gram Panchayat records confirmed the appellant's documents were never issued.
The National Green Tribunal's Western Zone Bench at Pune dismissed an appeal by Harishchandra Vitthal Naik of Mandrem, Pernem, Goa, challenging a demolition order passed by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority on 15 March 2023. The GCZMA had directed Naik to demolish a beach shack in Survey No. 269/3 and a G+1 RCC structure in Survey Nos. 269/4, 5 and 6 of Junaswada, Mandrem, within 30 days of receipt of the order, finding both structures to be illegal constructions in violation of the CRZ Notification, 2011. The Tribunal, after independently directing verification of the documents on which the appellant relied, received a point-by-point report from Gram Panchayat Mandrem confirming that none of the documents had been issued by the Panchayat. The appeal was dismissed on 2 June 2026 by a bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh (Judicial Member) and Dr. Sujit Kumar Bajpayee (Expert Member).
The Structures and the Complaints That Triggered the Proceedings
The chain of events began with a complaint dated 16 September 2020 from one Vishwanath Kamat Desai, alleging that Rajesh Kumar Mehra and Sudesh Kumar Mehra, operating as Sunny Sunrise Beach Resort, had illegally constructed a beach shack with a bar, cut sand dunes, raised a retaining wall, and discharged sewage into the sea in Survey No. 269/3 of Junaswada, Mandrem, Pernem, Goa.
The GCZMA's Expert Member conducted a site inspection on 6 December 2020. The inspection found no documents proving the shack was legal, observed an under-construction two-storey building, landscaping blocks and a compound wall on the site, and noted that the adjoining plot appeared to have been a coastal sand dune eco-system that had been damaged.
A Show Cause cum Stop Work Order was issued to the Mehras. At the GCZMA's 238th meeting on 26 November 2020, the Mehras' advocate submitted that Survey No. 269/3 did not belong to them but to Harishchandra Naik. The GCZMA then decided to issue a Stop Work Order cum Show Cause Notice to Naik.
A second complaint, dated 20 January 2021, came from Respondent No. 4, Jayant G. Naik, raising similar allegations about the beach shack and additionally flagging illegal construction in Survey Nos. 269/4, 269/5 and 269/6 by one Vithal H. Naik. Jayant G. Naik also filed an application for intervention, which the Authority allowed.
What the GCZMA Found After Years of Hearings
The matter was considered by the GCZMA across multiple meetings over more than two years. At the meeting on 30 September 2021, Sunny Sunrise Beach Resort claimed the structures had existed since before 1991 and produced a plan, but the Authority rejected the plan because it lacked the signature of the concerned Government Department, bore no date, and did not carry the owner's signature.
The resort then produced a set of documents to establish pre-1991 existence: a house tax receipt dated 4 June 1986, repair permission correspondence of 4 June 1986, permission No. 9/90-91 dated 7 September 1990 with a plan, a letter dated 12 December 1990 intimating the Panchayat of completion of work, and two further repair permissions dated 6 May 1986 and 16 October 1986, all purportedly issued by Gram Panchayat Mandrem, Pernem, Goa.
Respondent No. 4 made an RTI application dated 24 June 2022 to Village Panchayat Mandrem seeking information about these documents. The Panchayat replied that no such permissions had been issued. The GCZMA's 329th meeting on 8 February 2023 included a personal hearing. The Authority ultimately found that the appellant had failed to prove the structures existed prior to 1991 and that no permission for commercial use had ever been granted. The impugned demolition order followed on 15 March 2023.
The Appellant's Case Before the Tribunal
Naik, represented by Mr. Balkrishna Sardessai, challenged the demolition order on three principal grounds. First, the GCZMA had failed to consider that the documents he relied upon pertained to structures approved before 1991, and ought to have conducted a preliminary enquiry to verify those documents rather than simply discarding them. Second, the Authority had not properly appreciated the house tax receipt No. 22 dated 4 June 1986 issued by Gram Panchayat Mandrem for structures Nos. 444/2, 444/3 and 444/4. Third, the Authority had similarly failed to appreciate the repair permission correspondence of 4 June 1986.
The GCZMA, represented by Ms. Supriya Dangare, countered that the house tax receipt did not specify any survey number and could not be relied upon. The repair permissions at Annexures A-3 and A-4 could not be relied upon because the Village Panchayat had categorically stated in response to the RTI application that those records did not form part of its maintained records. The permission at Annexure A-6 related only to House No. 444/1. Across all the documents, none showed that any authority had permitted commercial use of the property. The GCZMA also pointed out that the property falls within the No Development Zone, making prior GCZMA approval mandatory for any construction or repair under the CRZ Notification.
Respondent No. 4, represented by Mr. Abhijit Gosavi, filed a reply affidavit dated 26 July 2023 reiterating the inspection findings and the RTI disclosures, and submitting that the impugned order had been rightly passed.
The Tribunal's Independent Verification Step
After hearing arguments, the Tribunal took an unusual step. By order dated 25 February 2026, the bench directed that the documents relied upon by the appellant be independently verified by Gram Panchayat Mandrem, Pernem, Goa, to determine whether they had in fact been issued by the Panchayat. A further order was passed on 23 March 2026, and a Show Cause Notice was issued to the Panchayat on 7 April 2026.
The Panchayat filed a Detailed Verification Report dated 14 April 2026. Searching its Construction License Register, House Tax Register, and Resolution Books, the Panchayat gave point-by-point findings. House Nos. 444/2, 444/3 and 444/4 were not registered in Panchayat records. The repair permission dated 4 June 1986 bearing Ref. No. VPM/HVN/Permission/86-87/333 for those house numbers was not issued by the Panchayat. Permission No. 9/90-91 dated 7 September 1990 bearing Ref. No. VPM/PER/NOC/1991/585 for the same house numbers was not issued by the Panchayat. The repair permission dated 26 May 1986 bearing Ref. No. VPM/HVN/Permission/86-87/74 for House No. 444/1 was not issued by the Panchayat. The permission dated 16 October 1986 bearing Ref. No. VPM/PER/NOC/86-87 was not issued by the Panchayat.
The Tribunal's verification thus confirmed, through the Panchayat's own records, what the RTI inquiry had earlier indicated: every document the appellant had produced to establish pre-1991 existence of the structures was spurious.
The Tribunal's Reasoning
The bench found the Panchayat's verification report conclusive. The Tribunal observed that “none of the documents which have been relied upon by the appellant, in order to establish that the structures in question existed prior to 1991, could prove that they were issued by the Gram Panchayat Mandrem, Pernem, Goa.”
With the entire documentary foundation of the appellant's case having collapsed, the Tribunal found no force in the arguments advanced by the appellant's counsel. The GCZMA's finding that the structures were newly and illegally constructed without permission from any statutory authority, and in violation of the CRZ Notification, 2011, was upheld.
The bench did not find it necessary to remand the matter for fresh enquiry, as the appellant had been given extensive opportunity before the GCZMA across multiple meetings spanning more than two years, and the Tribunal itself had arranged independent verification of the documents. The appellant had simply failed to produce any genuine evidence of pre-1991 existence or of any permission for commercial use.
Order
The Western Zone Bench upheld the GCZMA's demolition order dated 15 March 2023 in its entirety. Appeal No. 20/2023(WZ) was dismissed. The direction to demolish the beach shack in Survey No. 269/3 and the G+1 RCC structure in Survey Nos. 269/4, 5 and 6 of Junaswada, Mandrem, Pernem, Goa stands. The order was pronounced on 2 June 2026 and signed by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, Judicial Member, and Dr. Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, Expert Member.