Bombay High Court

THE GOA FOUNDATION THR, ITS SECRETARY DR. CLAUDE ALVARESversusTHE VILLAGE PANCHAYAT OF ARPORA NAGOA THR, ITS SECRETARY AND 5 ORS

Disposal: Disposed of

Holding

The Court held that the grievances have been redressed through satisfactory restoration and therefore disposed of the PIL and related application.

Summary

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) WP No.20 of 2022 raised a grievance against Respondent No.6 for illegal hill cutting in Survey No.157/1, Arpora, Goa. The High Court ordered the Goa College of Engineering (GEC) to inspect the site and advise on restoration. The GEC report confirmed that Respondent No.6 had implemented a cut‑and‑fill method, with the cut portions filled, compacted, and supervised by geotechnical engineers, resulting in stable slopes and retaining walls. The petitioners, satisfied with the restoration, withdrew any further relief and requested disposal of the PIL. Consequently, the Court disposed of both the PIL and the related Miscellaneous Civil Application, and vacated the interim relief previously granted on 4‑Oct‑2022.

Issues considered

Whether the hill cutting in Survey No.157/1 constituted an illegal act requiring judicial intervention.
Whether the restoration undertaken by Respondent No.6 complies with engineering and environmental standards.
Whether the interim relief granted earlier should remain in force pending completion of restoration.

Subjects

hill cutting
environmental restoration
public interest litigation
cut and fill
interim relief vacated
Goa

Judgment

                             51 MCA 373 2025

   siddhi

            IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA
               MISC.CIVIL APPLICATION NO.373 OF 2025
                              WITH
            PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION WP NO.20 OF 2022
             MISC.CIVIL APPLICATION NO.373 OF 2025
                                IN
          PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION WP NO.20 OF 2022
INTERNATIONAL AIRCON PVT. LTD.,
THR. ITS AUTH. SIGN. RIYAJ SHAH             ... APPLICANT
   Versus
THE GOA FOUNDATION THR., ITS
SECRETARY, DR. CLAUDE ALVARES AND
5 ORS.                                      ... RESPONDENTS
                            WITH
         PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION WP NO.20 OF 2022
THE GOA FOUNDATION THR, ITS
SECRETARY DR. CLAUDE ALVARES             ... PETITIONER
  Versus
THE VILLAGE PANCHAYAT OF ARPORA
NAGOA THR, ITS SECRETARY AND 5 ORS                ... RESPONDENTS

Mr. Salman Khurshid, Senior Counsel (through V.C.) with Mr.
Shivan Desai, Mr. Manoj Chawhan, Ms Riya Amonkar, Ms.
Vidhi Gupta, Mr. Ujwal Singh Parmar, Advocates for the
Applicant and for Respondent No.6 in PILWP 20/2022.
Mr. Om D'Costa, Advocate for Respondent No.1/Original
Petitioner.
Mr. Neehal Vernekar, Additional Government Advocate for
Respondents No.3, 4, and 6.
Mr Hanumant D. Naik with Ms Divya Naik, Advocate for
Respondent No.5.

                    CORAM:- VALMIKI MENEZES &
                            AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, JJ.
                    DATED :- 24th August, 2026

P.C.


                                Page 1 of 3
                              24th August, 2026
                                51 MCA 373 2025




1.       The report of the Goa College of Engineering (GEC)
pertaining to the site inspection conducted pursuant to the orders of
this Court dated 16.06.2026 is placed on record.


2.    The grievance raised in the PIL Writ Petition was against the
Respondent No. 6, complaining of hill cutting that had taken place
in Survey No. 157/1 of the village Arpora, Bardez, Goa.


3.    Pursuant to the orders of this Court, the GEC was appointed
to conduct site inspection and give its opinion on the manner in
which the hill slopes in the said survey number could be restored.


4.      The report filed today opines in its observations that the
Respondent No. 6 has implemented the Cut and Fill approach as
recommended by the earlier GEC report and the visible cut
portions have been filled and compacted in accordance with
engineering advice.


5.       The report further records that the restoration has been
executed under the professional supervision of the Geotechnical
Engineers and the hill slopes and retaining walls at locations RW-1
and RW-2 are now found to be stable.


6.    Considering that the grievances raised in the PILWP No. 20

                                   Page 2 of 3
                                 24th August, 2026
                                                             51 MCA 373 2025


                      of 2022 have now been redressed, and the site in question has been
                      adequately restored under the supervision of the GEC, the
                      Petitioners do not press for any further relief in this PIL Writ
                      Petition and pray that the same be disposed of.


                      7.          In view of the observations made in the report and the fact that
                      the grievances in the Petition are now redressed, the PILWP No. 20
                      of 2022 stands disposed of. Consequently, the Miscellaneous Civil
                      Application No. 373 of 2025 stands disposed of.


                      8.            It is clarified that the interim relief granted by order dated
                      4.10.2022 stands vacated.



                        AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, J.                         VALMIKI MENEZES, J.




Signed by: SHAKUNTALA ZALMI
Designation: Personal Assistant
                                                                Page 3 of 3
Date: 28/08/2026 17:00:59
                                                              24th August, 2026

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