Goa Daily

  The Bombay High Court at Goa has issued an important judgment reaffirming the legal validity of the Goa State Election Commission’s reservation framework for the upcoming Zilla Panchayat elections. Two aspiring candidates—one from Nuvem and one from Curtorim—had approached the Court challenging the reservation of their constituencies for Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates. Their petitions questioned the legality of the notification issued on 06 November 2025, which was based on the rotation and reservation system laid down by the State Election Commission (SEC). The petitioners argued that the OBC reservations violated the Supreme Court’s “triple test” guidelines and that at least one seat for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates was mandatory in South Goa under Article 243-D of the Constitution. The High Court, however, rejected both contentions and upheld the legality of the notification. Court Reviews Compliance with Supreme Court’s Triple Test A central issue before the Co...

 The High Court of Bombay at Goa delivered a scathing rebuke to state authorities on November 12, 2025, for their persistent failure to address illegal constructions mushrooming along the ecologically vulnerable Baga-Sinquerim beach stretch, a premier tourist corridor in North Goa. In a landmark order responding to a writ petition filed by local resident Menino Fernandes, the court issued notices to 13 key departments and local bodies, including the State Government, North Goa Collector, Town and Country Planning Department, Directorate of Tourism, Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), and Goa State Pollution Control Board. The directives mandate comprehensive affidavits accompanied by recent photographs detailing the beaches' current conditions and the tally of unauthorized structures, to be filed before the next hearing on January 21, 2026. This judicial intervention exposes systemic lapses in enforcement, emphasizing the need for rigorous accountability to safeguard Goa...