24 WP 1396 2026 Amrut IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA WRIT PETITION NO.1396 OF 2026 GOPAL PORO VELIP ... PETITIONER Versus THE ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR OF PANCHAYATS, SOUTH GOA AND 3 ORS., ... RESPONDENTS Mr Harshal Desai, Advocate for Petitioner. CORAM:- S. G. CHAPALGAONKAR, J. DATED :- 12th October, 2026 P.C.: 1. The present petition is filed with the following prayers: "(A) For judicial review under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, of the manifestly arbitrary, patently perverse and highhanded action of the Respondent No. 1 and upon appreciation thereof, the said Respondent be directed to expeditiously dispose of the Prayer of Stay found particularly at Prayer Clause C. of the Appeal Memo in PA/ 33/2026 in a time- bound manner, as a matter of priority as against all the other reliefs sought in the appellate proceedings; (B) Pending the disposal of the prayer of stay in the said appellate proceedings, the proceedings before Respondent No. 2, 12th October, 2026 2026:BHC-GOA:2041 24 WP 1396 2026 be stayed forthwith or in any case allowed to be deferred from time to time with no ostensible progress in the same proceedings, until the said prayer of stay is disposed of by Respondent No. 1." 2. Petitioner contends that in pursuance of the complaint made by Respondent No.4, Petitioner has been served with a stop work notice under Section 64(j) of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, 1994. Thereafter, Petitioner made application seeking permission to repair the existing structure, which is pending since 9th January 2026. Eventually, citing deemed grant, the Petitioner continued repair work. The Block Development Officer conducted inspection, which led to the issuance of a show cause notice dated 29th July 2026 under Section 66 of Goa Panchayat Raj Act. Petitioner replied show cause notice. However, on 24th August 2026, Petitioner was served with notice to appear in proceeding Case No.DDPK/17/2026. Petitioner assailed the aforesaid notice by filing Appeal (PA/33/2026) before the Appellate Authority/Director of Panchayats. Petitioner has also filed application for stay of the impugned order. However, the same has not been considered or decided. 3. Learned Advocate appearing for Petitioner invited attention of this Court to the application dated 26th August 2026, submitted before the Additional Director of Panchayats, South Goa, in PA /33/2026 whereby request is made to consider 12th October, 2026 24 WP 1396 2026 Petitioner's application for stay of notice of proceeding which is impugned in appeal. It is submitted that the Respondents have caused appearance before Appellate Authority. 4. In light of submissions advanced, writ petition can be disposed of by innocuous direction, thereby directing the Director of Panchayats to consider and decide pending stay application filed by Petitioner in PA/33/2026 within a period of four weeks from today. 5. Writ Petition stands disposed of accordingly. S. G. CHAPALGAONKAR, J. 12th October, 2026 Signed by: TARI AMRUT NAGESH Designation: Private Secretary Date: 13/10/2026 10:02:55