Cabinet approves law: Mundkar nod must for bhatkar to sell land

Panaji: The state cabinet on Monday approved the Goa Mundkars (Protection from Eviction) Act, 1975, to prohibit the transfer of dwelling house by a bhatkar to any person other than the mundkar. The new law will permit such transfer to a third party only with the prior consent of the mundkar. It will be introduced in the ongoing assembly session.TOI was the first to report that govt would bring in a bill in the winter session of the assembly to protect the interests of mundkars. The bill states that if the bhatkar sells, exchanges, mortgages, leases, or in any manner transfers his property where the dwelling house is situated, the right of the mundkar in the dwelling house shall not, in any way, be affected by such transfer.The bill will strengthen the protection afforded to mundkars in respect of their dwelling houses. The bill clarifies that the bhatkar may transfer the property, except the dwelling house, without affecting the rights, protection, or privileges conferred upon the mundkar under the Act. “If the bhatkar sells, exchanges, mortgages, or leases, or in any manner transfers, his property where the dwelling house is situated, the right of the mundkar in the dwelling house shall not, in any way, be affected by such transfer,” the bill said.Chief minister Pramod Sawant, during his mhaje ghar live interaction, announced that govt decided to prevent bhatkars from transferring the property in which a mundkar’s dwelling house is situated until the rights of the mundkar are fully settled as per the provisions of the Goa, Daman and Diu Mundkars (Protection from Eviction) Act, 1975.The Goa Mundkar Act, 1975, was enacted to provide better protection to mundkars against eviction from their dwelling houses, to confer upon them the right to purchase such dwelling houses together with the land on which the same are built at a reasonable price, and to abolish the system of free services rendered by mundkars, converting such services into remunerated ones.The statement of objects and reasons of the Act clearly reiterates the intent of the legislature to safeguard the residential security of mundkars and to enable them to acquire ownership rights over their dwelling units.However, it was noticed that bhatkars constantly transferred their properties, invoking this provision, resulting in frequent changes in ownership. This created considerable hardship to mundkars, who were compelled to repeatedly amend their pending proceedings to substitute the new bhatkar in place of the earlier one. In many cases, the mundkars remained unaware of such transfers, including the identity of the new purchaser, his address, and details of his legal heirs, the cabinet said.“Mundkars face delays and complications in the adjudication of their rights due to multiplicity of owners. They experience uncertainty, as land is a scarce resource and changing market dynamics encourage repeated transfers, and they undergo inconvenience, prolonged litigation, and increased cost on account of recurring ownership changes during pendency of matters under the Act,” said the cabinet.As govt desires to ensure that the rights of mundkars are settled before any transfer takes place, it is proposed to substitute the existing section with a new provision imposing a statutory restriction on transfer of property by the bhatkar, said the cabinet.