MMC spent Rs 60L in court cases in 3 yrs

Margao: The Margao Municipal Council (MMC) has spent close to Rs 60 lakh to defend its cases in courts and in out-of-court arbitration proceedings over the past three years, figures presented by the civic body in its annual budget for 2023-24 reveal.
Further, the MMC has provided Rs 21.3 lakh for suits and prosecution, and arbitration, in the annual budget, the same sum it had budgeted for in the last fiscal.
While the MMC spent Rs 25.9 lakh for the purpose in the year 2020-21, the expenses were Rs 15.2 lakh in 2021-22. Of the Rs 21.3 lakh it had provided for in the last financial year, the actual expenses during the fiscal have been close to Rs 17 lakh.
Sources in the MMC said that most of the court cases pertain to issues concerning land acquisition, the Sonsoddo matter, and taxation issues most of which date back several years.
Recently, a 17-year-old land acquisition case caused quite a stir in a meeting of the council after it was revealed that the court had passed an order directing the MMC to deposit Rs 2.7 crore. It was the tentative estimated cost of land acquisition in line with the new land acquisition law, a prohibitive hike from Rs 3.1 lakh estimated under the archaic land acquisition law — to prove the bona fides for acquiring 590 sqm of private land at Colmorod, Navelim, for road construction.
Thus, while the MMC spends heavily in its defence in matters legal, its performance in two areas — empowering women and promoting sports activities — has been dismal, despite having made adequate budgetary provisions under the respective heads.
For the first time, the MMC had provided for Rs 25 lakh for women empowerment in the last budget. Not a penny, however, was spent in the last fiscal. A similar amount has been earmarked under that head in the 2023-24 budget.
As for sports, of the Rs 5 lakh provided in the last budget for the purpose, no expenditure has been shown under that head in the last fiscal. However, the MMC has once again budgeted the same amount for sports activities in the 2023-24 budget.