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Queries ::
- Claiming Mundkar rights
- Does a Sarpanch have authority to keep construction licence pending?
- Ex-husband's rights over gifted property
- Transfer of house tax
- Mundkarial rights for multiple properties
- Goan properties going to non-Goans
- Mortgaged property issues
- British citizens wanting to start business in India
- German national and FEMA regulations
- Stamp duty on cost of construction?
- Right to Information Act
- Sale Deed for flat
- Stamp duty and registration fee
- Inventory Proceeding
- Access paths compulsory
Q. My great grandmother was staying in a Landlord's house in Candolim. My great grandmother had only one daughter i.e my grandmother and she had two daughters i.e .my mother and my aunt. My aunt who was a spinster expired. We are living in a rental premises. Can my mother claim mundkarial right for the said house? Samuel Crasto (Thivim)
A. If any of your predecessors – in – title were registered as mundkar, you can claim mundkairal right as inherited by you from the said mundkar. If no mundkairal registration exists then you will have to apply to the Mamlatdar for registration for which purpose you will have to prove that you have been residing as a mundkar and also claim that you are entitled to inherit the said rights under the relevant Provision of the Act. (Adv. Trifonio Jaques)
Q. Does the Sarpanch of the Village Panchayat have the authority to keep a file of construction of a residential house pending for an unlimited period of time, without taking any action? Sandesh Raikar, (Colva)
A. According to section 66 sub section (2) of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act 1994, the Village Panchayat has to dispose off an application for construction within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of the application, determine whether such permission should be granted or not and communicate its decision to the applicant, the applicant may file an appeal within thirty days from the date of expiry of aforesaid period, to the Deputy Director, who shall dispose off the same within thirty days from the date of filing of such an appeal. If the Deputy Director fails to dispose off the appeal within thirty days, such permission shall be deemed to have been given and the applicant may proceed to execute the work, but not so as to contravene any of the provisions of this Act or any rules or byelaws made under this Act. The Village Panchayat may have held some application due to the elections or due to some trends affecting the construction Industry. (Adv. Filomena D'Silva)
Q. I am from Margao. My uncle a bachelor made a gift deed, gifting all his properties to me and my husband which I came to know after his death. I am a divorcee and remarried. Can my ex -husband have a claim on the properties. It is almost 10 years since we have been divorced. Jenny Viegas (Borda)
A. The details mentioned in the query are not sufficient to answer the same, namely whether the gift deed has been accepted or not; whether the gift deed was executed before the Divorce; where the marriage took place or was registered. If the gift deed is executed after the divorce then your ex-husband may not be able to claim right to your properties. (Adv. Trifonio Jaques)
Q. I have applied for the transfer of house tax in my name with the Panchayat. I gave all the relevant documents, such as Sale Deed, Form I&XIV, house tax receipt and N.O.C from the previous owners, etc. The secretary informed me that the file has been rejected in the Panchayat meeting. He has not given me any reason for that. Please advise me what step I should take to transfer the house in my name. Rajiv Coelho (Majorda)
A. If you have not been told the reasons for the rejection apply to the Secretary of the Panchayat to give you a certified copy of the order of rejection. If he does not give it to you in due course then apply under the Right to Information Act. After receipt of the order you should within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the said order file an appeal under section 201-A of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act 1994 to the Block Development Officer of the Taluka wherein the Panchayat is situated. (Adv. Sachin Desai)
Q. I am a tenant. The landlord informed me that he is ready to give me a mundkarial house along with 300m2 land and he informed me to file a case in the mamalatdar office. I am worried now as I am also mundkar for his other properties. Will I lose right in other properties such as cashew plantation and coconut groves which I am plucking for almost 25 years? Cajetan D’Sa (Revora)
A. As far as your Mundkerial
rights are concerned, the same are restricted to a single dwelling unit
wherein you should have been residing with the consent of the Landlord,
continuously and with a fixed habitation, from prior to coming into force
of The Goa Mundkar's (Protection from Eviction) Act 1975, that is from
prior to 12th March 1976. Hence you cannot claim to be a Mundkar with
respect to any additional house or properties. Besides as a Mundkar, you
have an option to either purchase the land on which your dwelling house
is standing and the land around and appurtenant to such dwelling house,
subject to a maximum limit of 5 metres, if the land is within the jurisdiction
of a Village Panchayat and 2metres, if it is not within such jurisdiction,
from the outer walls of the dwelling house. As regards the other properties,
you can raise a claim of tenancy if and only when you can establish that
you have been holding the land on lease and that you have been cultivating
it personally as on or after the date of commencement of the Tenancy Act.
To cultivate the land would mean to till or harvest land for the purpose
of raising or improving agricultural produce, whether by manual labour
or machinery or to carry on any agricultural operation thereon and to
cultivate personally would mean to cultivate the land on one's own account
by one's own labour or by the labour of any family member or under personal
supervision of oneself or any member of one's family, by hired labour
or by servants on wages payable in cash or kind but not in crop share.
In the light of this legal backdrop with respect to a claim of tenancy,
I fear that you may not succeed in staking a claim of tenancy with regards
to the other properties.
(Adv. Bruno Nazareth)
Q. I am a Goan and married in Gujarat. Our marriage was registered in Gujarat. We are two brothers and two sisters. We have huge properties in Goa. Since I have married to a non-Goan and the marriage is not registered in Goa, will I lose rights to our family properties? Rinaldo Pacheco (Siolim)
A. Just because you have married a non Goan you do not lose your rights in the ancestral properties in Goa which right will acquire only on the demise of either or both your parents. If you are left out you could always approach the Court and file an inventory proceeding. Provided you did not sign any agreement before your marriage before the Sub registrar, giving up your rights to the family properties. (Adv. Filomena D'Silva)
Q. I am the owner of a property in Vagator. I had mortgaged the property to a Bank as well as I have entered into an agreement with a broker to sell the property to him and have accepted 25% of the total consideration as well as given him P.O.A. Based on the said document i.e. Agreement for sell and P.O.A, the broker entered into an agreement with a third party. As per the terms of my agreement, balance payment was supposed to be paid to me within 3 months and a deed was supposed to be executed. Before that I was supposed to clear the dues of the Bank which I have already done. It is almost 5 months now and the broker is not paying the balance amount. I have another buyer who wants to purchase the property. Can you please advise me how I can proceed? Videsh Salgaonkar (Vagator)
A. Either you can ask for
specific performance of the agreement or you are entitled to terminate
the Agreement and refund the advances received from him, upon serving
a proper legal notice. Whether you are bound to refund the advanced amount
or part thereof, will however depend on what has been provided for in
the Agreement. Generally speaking a Purchaser could in most cases seek
compliance of requisitions on title by finding some defect or the other
in the title and thus keep you wanting in the compliance of your obligations
under the Agreement. You need to execute a Deed of Revocation of Power
of Attorney. As for your option to sell the property to a new Purchaser,
you may proceed with the new transaction, provided you have fulfilled
all your obligations under your previous Agreement and that there was
nothing wanting from you by the earlier Purchaser, in the performance
of your part of the Agreement.
(Adv. C. Kundaikar)
Q. We are a British couple who want to run a business in India. We formed an Indian company and also filed a declaration of Foreign Direct Investment. We are waiting for the investor code. Meantime we have identified a property in Anjuna to do business and have agreed to purchase the same in the company's name. But the Sub-Registrar in not accepting the deed until we have the Investor Code. It is almost 6 months that we have applied for the same. What can we do? Mr. Shepard (U.K)
A. The Home Department, Government of Goa has introduced the rule to insist on the Investor Code by the Reserve Bank of India while registering the properties with the Sub-Registrar. On account of this Sub-Registrar cannot register the property. It is better to sort out the matter with RBI why the Investor Code is pending and obtain the Investor Code as early as possible. Generally if you submit the papers properly and in time RBI does not delay the issuing of the Investor Code (Adv. Sadashiv Shet)
Q. I am a German National. I have purchased a property in Baga. I have received a notice from the Enforcement Authority for violation of FEMA regulation while purchasing the property in Goa. I have answered all their queries and given all the relevant documents which they requested. I want to sell my property and I have not heard anything from the Enforcement Authority till date. What should be my course of action? M. Ballak (Germany)
A. As on date, no Foreign national, can buy or sell property in the state of Goa; without permission from Reserve Bank of India. Further since your matter is already under scrutiny by the Enforcement authorities it is not advisable to sell your property. (Adv. Shubalaxmi Naik)
Q.
I have entered into an agreement to construct a villa with a builder who
is an owner/developer. He has subdivided his property at Siolim, and has
valid N. O. C's, license, permission from various authorities. The cost
of the villa & plot is around Rs. 90, 00,000/-. The villa is ready
for occupancy. The Builder informed me to pay 2.5% stamp duty in order
to execute the deed. I have agreed to purchase a plot of 450m2 and agreed
to finance the construction wherein the cost of the land in Siolim as
per the Government minimum rate is Rs. 500/-m2 which means I have to pay
stamp duty on 2,25,000/- which works out to Rs. 4500. Do I pay stamp duty
on the cost of construction?
Gaurav Bhagvani (Ahemadabad)
A. In order to answer your query, it is necessary to peruse the recitals and covenants as incorporated in the Agreement whereby you transacted the purchase of the plot with a Villa constructed therein. In the event the transaction involved a purchase of the plot together with the Villa constructed thereon for a lumpsum consideration of sale, you are liable to pay the stamp duty as against the total consideration of sale for which the immovable property comprised of a plot with a Villa has been agreed to be purchased by you. On the other hand, if the agreement reveals that you entered into a transaction for purchase of a plot at a determined consideration of sale and by way of another transaction got the Developer to construct a Villa on the same plot at a cost of construction entirely borne by you, you would be required to pay the stamp duty only as against the consideration of sale for which you agreed to purchase the same plot. The stamp duty is payable as against the consideration of sale at which you have purchased the plot and not as against the minimum rate fixed by the Government. The minimum rate has been fixed by the Government in order to prevent under valuation of land below the notified minimum rate. (Adv. Bruno Nazareth)
Q. I have requested information under Right to Information Act. The Application was addressed to the Collector South Goa. They forwarded the letter to District Registrar as the information requested, was from their department. District Registrar forwarded the application to Finance Department as information required was from their Department. The Finance Department wrote to the Collector saying that information is from his department and they should provide the same to the applicant. It is almost one and a half month that I am getting letters from different departments. What should I do? Joaquim Almeida (Benaulim)
A. The Query sought by you does not specify the exact information required and which department holds the same. However in this case, generally if Collector South is the Public information officer and is not providing the information within the stipulated period, then you can seek relief from the Chief Secretary Goa who is the First Appellate Authority and the Second Appeal can be filed before the Goa State information Commission. (Adv. Shubalaxmi Naik)
Q. I had entered into an agreement with a builder to purchase a flat in Anjuna. The builder had an Agreement to develop the said property with the landlord and also a power of attorney to sign on his behalf. The flat is ready for possession. Now, I want a Sale Deed to be executed in my favour as I paid all the amount due to the builder. But, the builder informs me that he cannot execute a deed of sale, as the landlord has filed a case against him (builder) to perform some of the terms and conditions of the agreement for development and the matter is in the court. I need to sell the said flat and no buyer wants to buy the flat, without me owning the said flat. Please advice. Roopak Deshmukh (Bangalore)
A. We have to see the terms of the agreement. If the builder has undertaken to provide you a sale deed, he is duty-bound to do so. Merely because there is a case filed by the landowner is not good reason to deprive you of the sale deed, unless there is a court order restraining the builder from executing such sale deed. You will have to move the consumer court for an order against the builder. (Adv. Filip Cordeiro)
Q. I purchased a 1000m2 property in Sirsaim for Rs.5 Lakhs. My lawyer informed me that I have to pay 2% stamp duty on 10 lakh which is the prevailing market value. Will I also have to pay 2% registration fee on 10 Lakhs? Tushar Desai (Mapusa)
A. If I had to answer your question in one word the answer would be “Yes”. The figure of Rs. Ten Lakhs is the market value of the Property as ascertained by the office of the Sub-Registrar. You have the option of employing the services of a Government approved valuer to ascertain the value of the said property if you think that the market value is fixed on the higher side. (Adv. Sachin Desai)
Q. I have a property at Colvale. My father possessed the said property for almost 20yrs and after his death I have filed an inventory proceeding wherein the said property devolved to me. Now, it is almost 20yrs that I am in possession of the property. Can I sell the said property on the basis of the Inventory and I & IV Form? as I don't have any other title documents. Please Advice. Craig Gomes (Moira)
A. In the absence of any other document, the survey record and your inventory will be your title documents. You can certainly sell the same, but a prudent buyer may ask for more documentation than this. It depends on what satisfies the buyer. You must however make a full disclosure of your documents. (Adv. Filip Cordeiro)
Q. When you buy a property in Goa, is it compulsory to keep access, even though there is no traditional access passing through the property to the neighboring plot owner? Ranvir Dixit (Mumbai)
A. Most of the time it
has been seen that if you deny access to the neighboring plots, they file
the proceedings in the court of law to safeguard their rights to the access
and prevent obstruction to the same. It is always advisable to settle
such matters amicably by entering into an oral or written discussion with
the party concerned. (Adv. C. Kundaikar)
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