October 6, 2025

Panaji is abuzz as the Bombay High Court delivered a sharp blow to United Goans Foundation (UGF)! The court slapped a hefty Rs 50,000 cost on UGF for their Public Interest Litigation (PIL) claiming that the Goa government's deal with GMR for the Mopa International Airport caused a huge loss to public funds. But the high court was not impressed. A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Ashish Chavan said the PIL “lacks bona fide and doesn’t meet the threshold of a genuine public interest litigation but is an abuse of the process of law.” The court made it clear: this petition was more about casting doubt on the government's decision than raising a real issue. "It is merely an attempt to cast aspersions on the decision-making process of govt of Goa as it allotted the project of development of greenfield international airport to GMR as a concessionaire," the judges said. What grabbed attention was the fact that the court found no reason to interfere with the concession agreement signed on November 8, 2016, between Goa government and GMR. The agreement allowed GMR to develop the airport, with the government getting 37% of the airport’s revenue. UGF's attempt to get the court to demand a financial appraisal of the Mopa airport project also fell flat. They wanted the government to review the project's value and revenue share, just like a 2013 appraisal by KPMG. Moreover, UGF argued the scope was reduced after awarding the contract without updating the revenue share to the government. But the high court dismissed these claims as a delayed attempt to meddle in a commercial decision that followed a public tender. They also pointed out that the government would not get revenue from the city-side airport development but that this was to keep the project viable. In this drama of legal battles and airport dreams, the high court’s decision sends a clear message: don’t misuse courts to challenge fair government deals. UGF must now cough up Rs 50,000 costs, as justice strikes a firm note in Goa!

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Tags: Bombay high court, United goans foundation, Gmr goa airport, Public interest litigation, Goa government, Airport project,