PANAJI
Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane late Saturday said the government will explore avenues of framing new rules and bye-laws for Section 17(2) of the TCP Act which had been read down by the Bombay High Court at Goa in a judgement it passed on Thursday.
Rane said he held a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and BJP State President Damodar (Damu) Naik, where detailed discussions were held on the High Court's judgement, its implications and the options before the government.
He said, he has accordingly called for a TCP Board meeting which will take appropriate steps to incorporate the opinions and advice contained in the High Court judgement to frame the new rules and bye-laws to Section 17(2).
Rane at the hurriedly called press conference held at a city hotel also said that the High Court judgement had many positives in it, including a favourable case under Section 35 A of the same TCP Act even as it did not strike down the impugned Section 17(2), which he said was described as unconstitutional by the petitioners Goa Foundation to make the plea to strike it down.
Asked if his claim, made soon after the Thursday's judgement was delivered, that the government will approach the Supreme Court for relief still holds true, Rane said, "that is a different matter. The option is available. We have six weeks for it. In the meanwhile over the next two weeks we will deliberate and explore if new rules and bye-laws can be framed conforming with what is said in the judgement in its entirety."
