PANAJI: Comtroller and General Auditor (CAG) have opened an investigation to estimate the quantum of the country’s great loss of the country because of the Yachting Goa Association (GYA) “illegal work” from the property of the River Navigation Department (RND) in Dona Paula.
A rough estimate by the government said that RND can obtain Rs 20.9 lakh per year as a rental of property.
The main accountant general, in an audit investigation opened on September 30, said that Gya took the benefits of the property of RND without paying rent.
Gya runs a restaurant and bar along with Goan boutiques and its main office on this property.
CAG also raised a question mark for the intervention of the Minister of Revenue in a 40-year dispute for 250 sq m plot of land.
The CAG office requested the RND department to assess the rental value of all properties leased to the private sector, including land near Dona Paula Jetty.
PWD conducted a rental assessment for places on behalf of RND and estimated the value of land lease occupied by Gya at Rs 1.74 lakh per month.
President Gya Siddharth Satardekar claims that the association has helped train and prepare seafarers, especially Dayne and Katya Coelho, who represent India at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Pearl Colvalcar, another trainee with Gya, won a silver medal in the Radial Laser class at Senior National Sailing Championship, and Gya now tried to prepare seafarers for Asian Games 2022 and Paris Olympics 2024.
On June 24, Deputy Collector Gurudas Desai rejected the claims of Gya on the ground But soon after, on August 25, Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrade stayed the command of Desai, which would cause the eviction of Gya.
CAG, in his audit investigation, stated that a minister of income did not have jurisdiction to try and entertain the application after the deputy collector passed the order and after the Administrative Court had refused to appeal.
“The Administrative Court is the highest court under the land income code, and only a high court has jurisdiction to entertain such applications to challenge the Administrative Court,” said an administrative officer from the General Accountant Office General.
Observations are not directed towards the latest Monserrate decisions but weighs.
In November 1995, the highest minister of income passed the deputy collector in September 1989, where RND was approved as a legitimate landowner.
CAG said that Gya’s actions submitted a review petition before the Minister of Revenue in 1995 “was illegal, canceled and the number of insults (administration) of the court”.