No person can be allowed to take advantage of official position: Court

Panaji: A North Goa court has dismissed the application of the former Arambol sarpanch, Bernardo Fernandes, challenging his removal as a panch member by the director of panchayats. In April, the director of panchayats had also declared him ineligible to contest the next three panchayat elections.
The district court held that the director of panchayats correctly appreciated the facts and passed a reasoned order removing him.
“No person can be allowed to take advantage of an official position for himself or for the benefit of any other person which may be detrimental to the office where he works,” observed North Goa principal district judge, Panaji, Irshad Agha.
Fernandes was removed by the director of panchayats after the high court took suo motu cognisance of illegal structures. The panchayat stated that there were 187 illegal structures in his ward of Girkarwaddo, some of which belonged to him and his family. He failed to produce a single document showing the legality of the constructions when the director of panchayats gave him a fair opportunity, the court held.
“In case the structures were erected prior to the enforcement of the CRZ Notification 1991, the applicant (Bernardo Fernandes) ought to have produced necessary documents. The applicant has failed to prove that the said structures are legal,” the court observed.
The directorate of panchayats considered the detailed report prepared by the panchayat showing the nature and type of constructions and the purpose for which they were constructed, the district court said, observing that most of the constructions were erected when Fernandes was a member of the panchayat.
Advocate Sarvesh Kamat, representing Fernandes, submitted to the court that the report of the panchayat identifying illegal structures is incorrect and misleading and should not be considered by the director of panchayats. Of the 33 structures, 28 do not belong to him, he submitted, adding that most of the structures were constructed by his father prior to the CRZ Notification of 1991, and some were even constructed before the village panchayat of Arambol came into existence.