AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the Supreme Court upheld the judgement of the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court, scrapping the Outline Development Plans for the North Goa coastal villages. For a Saturday following the week when there was total lack of respect by the Narendra Modi government for Constitutional authorities. For a Saturday following the week when the Mumbai High Court acquitting all 12 accused who were found guilty and sentenced to death for the bomb blast on July 11, 2006 which claimed the lives of 187 and injured 824 Mumbaikars within six minutes. For a Saturday following the week with the revelation in the ongoing assembly session that postmen were being recruited in Maharashtra for vacancies in Goa.

SCRAPPING OF ODP
AND a few stray thoughts on the Supreme Court upholding the judgement of the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court scrapping the Outline Development Plans for the North Goa coastal villages. The implication is that all ongoing construction of luxury apartments and villas in Calangute, Candolim, Arpora and other coastal villages has been frozen. All those from Delhi and other parts of the country who have invested in second homes in the coastal villages are likely to lose their money. There is every possibility that the courts may order the demolition of structures that have come up in violation of the earlier High Court order. The SC has also upheld the striking down of the amendment to the TCP Act, which allowed the minister to permit conversions at his discretion, in violation of the regional plan and the ODP for not only the North Goa coastal villages but also other villages like Siolim and Saligao.
Ever since Vishwajit Rane became the TCP he has permitted illegal conversion of orchard and agriculture land at an unprecedented level. It is alleged that most of the illegal conversions under the ODPs was done by MLA of Calangute Michael Lobo for his own benefit, when he was chairman of the North Goa Planning Authority. It may be recalled that Vishwajit Rane challenged the cancellation of the ODPs by the HC before the SC. The SC has now served notices on the TCP to scrap the ODPs under which mega luxury building projects were approved. All the loopholes have been plugged and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has no option but to seek the resignation of Town & Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane.

NO RESPECT FOR CONSTITUTION
AND a few stray thoughts on the total lack of respect of the Narendra Modi government for Constitutional authorities. This has once again may be dramatized by the sudden resignation of Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankar, late on Monday night, July 22, 2025. Dhankar is reported to have literally gate-crashed the Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu at 9pm on Monday night July 22. Apparently Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were upset over Dhankar permitting an opposition motion for impeachment of Allahabad High Court Justice Yashwant Sharma. The judge was transferred to Allahabad following the discovery of large amounts of cash at his official bungalow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reported to be furious with Vice President Dhankar for accepting a petition signed by only the Opposition leaders to remove Yashwant Varma. Admittedly, the vice president and the governors are appointed or elected on the ticket of the ruling party. But once they occupy the high Constitutional posts, their loyalty is to the Constitution and not to any political party.
But the BJP and particularly the Narendra Modi and Amit Shah believed that even the president and vice president have to obey the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is claimed that Amit Shah called up the vice president and threatened him with impeachment for admitting the impeachment motion moved by the Opposition. There is even a claim that all the BJP members of Parliament were forced to sign a blank paper asking for the removal of the vice president.
There were clear indications that the vice president has fallen out of favor as the BJP President JP Nadda and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, boycotted the business advisory committee meeting convened by Vice President Dhankar. An angry Dhankar decided to resign rather than face the risk of being humiliated by the BJP and Narendra Modi.
This is the first time in the history of independent India that a vice president has resigned abruptly on grounds of ill health. Though the vice president cited health issues for his resignation, it was clear that there was nothing wrong with his health. It is not his physical health but political health that led to the resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have humiliated many governors who are also Constitutional authorities. The most notorious case is of former governor of Goa Satayapal Malik who was sacked for questioning the Central government’s policy on Manipur.

GUILTY GET ACQUITTED
AND a few stray thoughts on the Mumbai High Court acquitting all 12 accused who were found guilty and sentenced to death for the bomb blast on July 11, 2006 which claimed the lives of 187 and injured 824 Mumbaikars within six minutes. The bomb blast took place in seven first-class compartments in the suburban trains in Mumbai simultaneously.
In September 2015, 12 of the accused, all of whom were Muslims, were convicted and five of them were sentenced to death by a special court. The Mumbai High Court overturned the conviction of all the accused in a surprise judgment on Monday July 22, 2025. The police first claimed that the blast were triggered by a LeT commander Azam Cheema, a Pakistan national and a known terrorist. It was claimed that Cheema conspired with two others to wage war against India.
The Mumbai HC accused the police of fabricating a case just to show that they had solved the case. “Creating a false appearance of having solved a case by presenting that the accused have brought to justice gives a misleading sense of resolution. This decisive closer undermines public trust.” The HC pointed out that the witnesses were police plants and only approached the police a hundred days after the blast. The taxi drivers who claimed to have taken the accused to the railway stations could not identify the accused. There was no evidence that RDX was used as there has been no recovery. Shockingly, the HC revealed that the confessions of the accused was obtained by torture.
In fact, the High Court have even documented the inhuman torture including “legs of accused split 180 degrees, cockroaches and rats have been put in the underwear of the accused.” All the 12 accused have now been released from the jail. The state government of Maharashtra has decide to appeal against the judgement in the SC.

POSTAL STAFF FROM MAHARASHTRA
AND a few stray thoughts on the revelation in the ongoing assembly session that postmen are being recruited in Maharashtra for vacancies in Goa. Goa Forward president and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai claimed that these postmen had paid bribes to get the jobs. “These outsiders were taking letters home and they were unable to deliver them due to their lack of knowledge of Konkani.” Vijai Sardesai claimed that the 40 Maharashtrian postmen in Goa should be replaced with Goans.
There was also a demand for a State postal division for Goa as the present post office in Goa comes under the Maharashtra postal circle. It has been demanded that only individuals with knowledge of Konkani should be posted in Goa. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has promised to take up the issue with the Central government.

MEAT-EATING BIHARI MLAs
AND a last stray thought on the protest in the Bihar Assembly over meat being served to MLAs on Shravan Monday. The holy month of Shravan started on Monday, July 21. During this month most Hindus fast and do not consume any non-vegetarian dishes. At least in theory, Goan Hindus are expected to even give up their beloved xitt-coddi.
The truth is few Goans strictly observe Shravan as they cannot live without their fish curry-rice. However, many Goan homes have a special vegetarian menu during the Shravan month. Some restaurants and caterers also cater to presenting special Shravan thali meal deals. The majority of those who patronize the Shravan thali in classy upmarket restaurants are really Catholic families. This is because Shravan month’s special vegetarian food is routinely cooked in Goan Hindu homes and they do not have to go to any restaurant to relish it.