Foreign owned property in Goa, (Part One)

crvlvr

Gerard, do keep us posted if you decide to proceed with that sales agent. will you?

dzibead

Hm-m-m. Aren't these positions at least arguably valid? They certainly sound very much like arguments made by environmental watchdog groups in the U.S., including such respected organzations like The Sierra Club.

I know nothing about the Goa Foundation, whether it's corrupt or not, etc., etc, but you imply that there was something wrong with this organization filing lawsuits against people (in your example, a British woman and her Goan boyfriend) who do things that the Goa Foundation believes are environmentally damaging. But just because the group eventually lost the case against this particular couple doesn't mean that the legal action was frivolous or that it was wrong for the organizatin to file it in the first place. People win and lose lawsuits all the time on technical grounds that have nothing to do with the underlying substantive merits of the case - and this is so in every judicial system I know, not just India's! And the fact that the case went on so long and wasn't dismissed early in the proceedings suggests to me that there may have been some merit to it.

As for "blackmailing erring hoteliers" - - where does "blackmail" come into it? Is it blackmail to file a legal action in order to get people to comply with the applicable laws? And if the hoteliers are "erring," maybe a lawsuit by an environmental watchdog group is the only way to get them to do what they are supposed to be doing, especially if the local government doesn't have the money or resources to prosecute action to enforce the laws.

And that brings me back to why the Goa Foundation lost the particular law suit you mentioned. I have no information about it, but it's quite possible that there was ultimately a judicial determination that the law the Goa Foundation was trying to enforce simply didn't provide a "private right of action" - i.e., a right by a private individual or a non-governmental agency to enforce the law. If that's the case, the suit might have been perfectly good, except for the fact that it should have been filed by some arm of the government rather than a private organization. And if that's the case, the fact that the couple ultimately won doesn't mean that what they wanted to do "was after all legal" or that they were innocents who were wrongfully sued.

Basically, it sounds to me as if various individuals and entities who have been watching the uncontrolled development explosion in Goa have finally wakened up and realized there's a looming environmental disaster, and the brakes have to be put on and the laws that are already on the books have to be enforced. This usually "cramps the style" of landowners, builders, and developers, and so they squawk and act outraged and claim "discrimination" Yawn. So what's new?

Nick-H

Generally speaking, and without referring to or implicating any particular agency or organisation...

---Just because an organisation may be not-for-profit does not mean that money does not go into the pockets of its 'officers'. In India unscrupulous people are known to run orphanages, not to do any good for children (if there are any) but to put govt. grants in their pockets (as an example)

---I'm sure that kind of person would be capable of suggesting that a suitable payment might cause them not to notice the kind of violations that their organisation exists to campaign against.

As I say: speaking generally, and without reference to any organisation, or even any particular area of India.

Did I even say India? Must ask DZI for a crash course in disclaimers

snowcrab

Definitely not only in India!

"Money for nothing and chicks for free" doesn't describe rock stars nearly as well as it describes some non profits. Had some up close and personal encounters with local organizations I can only describe as wellfare for potentially unemployed social workers, poverty pimps, the less kind call them, and all perfectly legal and above board.

As a matter of fact, bet India has less problems with bent non profits because there isn't the same proportion of government money handed out to these kind of ventures to begin with.

GoanCanuck

Very true! It is almost impossible to get money from the government in India. In Canada well.........

luca

Makes me suspect even more that there are some more Goa Foundation members around this forum as they have their own 'Indian version of environmentally friendly policies', that have been discredited worldwide as being too extremist(usually to allow for corruption). They want us to see no evil, hear no evil and do no evil (only unto them). Fact is they are corrupt as most NGO's in India are. Maybe India needs decision making like the Swiss have- A referendum on every decision- You cannot get much more democratic than that. Unfortunately it would not be practical in a huge country like India. All the more reason to let the elected representative take the decisions

luca

DO YOU REALLY HAVE NO CONNECTION? YOU SEEM TO BE TAKING THIS VERY PERSONALLY AND NOT FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE POOR DOWNTRODDEN INDIAN

luca

snowcrab

Luca I do think the original intent of this thread was just to warn people who might be thinking of buying land in Goa,which seems to be advertised quite agressively both in India and in the UK, to do due dillegence in making sure of the legalities they will be entering into; not to get into wholesale India bashing or even Goa Foundation bashing.

Pretty much everyone in this forum knows that India can be frustrating and even maddening at times, but love her anyways, or they wouldn't come back or want to buy property. Non poor Indians have just as much right to take offence at an unsupported critical rant as poor Indians. Please!

Also this is a public forum, if you look at the html all website pages are described as public documents, and if the Goa Foundation wants to take exception to your public accusations there are laws around slander and calumny in every country.

luca

luca

I WOULD SUGGEST A LEVEL OF SECRECY AS SOME OF THE REQUESTS COULD BE MADE SOLEY CAUSE SOMEBODY WANTS TO KNOW YOUR BUSINESS AND COULD THEN TRY AND EXTORT FROM YOU. GOA FOUNDATION COMES TO MIND READILY!

capt_mahajan

this is turning into a chicken licken story.

__________________
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Outside the machine

luca

Also this is a public forum, if you look at the html all website pages are described as public documents, and if the Goa Foundation wants to take exception to your public accusations there are laws around slander and calumny in every country.[/quote]
Thats what i mean about living in a free country with a free press. I also will not allow 'India' or 'Indian viewpoint'to be hijacked the way the extremist radical muslims are doing it in the west. They do not speak in the name of all Muslims and I refuse to believe that you speak in the name of all Indians. I love India and the Indian people, but will not be cowed down by threats from some in this forum. I owe it to the 'silent Indian majority'

Nick-H

This is turning into a paranoid conspiracy theorists' heaven.

Enough.

The situation regarding foreign purchase of Indian land, and more particularly in Goa is something of great interest and genuine concern to many members.

This thread has become so diffuse I'm tempted to think its time it got closed: maybe we can more focussed in a new one.

AND ENOUGH WITH THE RED IN SHOUTING, OK? --- we can all hear you.

Nick-H

Well, I for one, have totally lost track of what you are trying to say on behalf of the silent Indian majority...

And... unless you stop shouting and screaming at everybody, I'm afraid you will be "cowed down" by the moderating teams' insistence that forum be kept polite.