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Administration in Goa

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Administration in Goa

One of the most popular tourist destinations in the country, Goa is also the smallest state in the country and also the fourth smallest in terms of population. Located in the Konkan Region on the western side of the country, Goa is bounded by Maharashtra from north, Karnataka from east and south and the mighty Arabian Sea from the west. It is the richest state in the country with a GDP per capita twice the amount of India’s. It was also named as the top most state in the country by the Eleventh Finance Commission and National Commission on Population for its infrastructure and quality of life.

With Panaji as the capital of the state and Vasco Da Gama as the largest city, Goa is essentially divided into two districts – North Goa and South Goa.

North Goa

Covered with numerous golden beaches, swaying palms, trendy beach shacks and restaurants, wooded hills and paddy fields, North Goa is one of the two districts in the state of Goa. Spread over an area of 1736 square kilometers, it is bounded by Maharashtra (Sindhudurg and Kolhapur district) from the north and east, South Goa district from the south and Arabian Sea from the west.

North Goa forms the greater part of the Konkan region with its administrative headquarters at Panaji, also known as the capital of Goa. In order to ease the process of revenue administration, the entire area of North Goa is further divided into four Sub-Divisions namely Panaji, Bicholim, Mapusa and Ponda and six Talukas namely Bardez (Mapusa), Tiswadi (Panaji), Bicholim, Pernem, Ponda and Sattari (Valpoi).

The Talukas are additionally divided into revenue circles, which are further sub-divided into revenue sazas that mostly consist of small revenue villages, under the charge of a Talathi. A circle inspector heads the group of sazas in the revenue circles. A Mamlatdar heads the revenue office of each Taluka and a Deputy Collector and a Sub-Divisional Officer are in charge of the Sub-Division, while the entire district is headed by a Collector.

For more information on the collectorate of North Goa, click here

South Goa

South Goa is the other district in the state of Goa and is bounded by Karnataka from the east and south, North Goa from the north and Arabian Sea from the west. Spread over an area of 19662km, South Goa has its administrative headquarters at Margao. Named after Mathany Saldanha, a former social activist and minister, the headquarters are located on the outskirts of the city, right next to the inter-city bus stand.

The district revenue administration is under the charge of a District collector, who is accompanied by Deputy Collectors and two Additional Collectors. The district comprises of five Sub-Divisions namely Margao, Quepem and Sanguem, Mormugao (Vasco da Gama), Canacona and Dharbandora, and six Talukas namely Salcete, Mormugao, Quepem, Sanguem, Canacona (Chaudi) and Dharbandora.

For more information on the collectorate of South Goa, click here

Sri. Ajit Roy IAS
Collector & District Magistrate, South Goa
Ph: 0832-2794414 (O)
Mob: 9422439439
Fax: 0832-2794402
e-Mail: cols.goa@nic.in 








Government and Politics of Goa

The Government of Goa has just one legislative or parliamentary chamber, thus making it a unicameral legislature with a forty member legislative assembly, which is headed by the Chief Minister, who holds the executive power. The ruling party consists of a coalition that acquires the maximum seats in the state elections. The President of India appoints the Governor, whose majority powers includes deciding who forms the next government or suspending the legislature. Goa has two seats in Lok Sabha, each seat representing the two districts in Goa and one seat in Rajya Sabha.

Did You Know?

Till 1990, Goa had a stable government for almost thirty consecutive years, however since then the state has been experiencing a lot of political instability. Goa has seen fourteen governments in a period of fifteen years from 1990 to 2005.







In March 2005, the then Governor dissolved the assembly and the President’s Rule was invoked. A by-election or a special election was held in June 2005, where the Indian National Congress (INC) came back to power after winning majority of the seats. The INC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the two largest parties in Goa. In 2007, Indian National Congress won the election and started ruling the state.

The 2012 Vidhan Sabha Elections saw Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, coming back to power, who then formed the new government with Shri Manohar Parrikar as the Chief Minister. BJP again won the 2014 elections with Shri Laxmikant Parsekar as the new and current Chief Minister of Goa. Other important political parties of Goa include Nationalist Congress Party and United Goans Democratic Party.

The administrative capital of Goa is in Panaji, also known as Panjim in Portuguese with Ponnje as the local language. The legislative assembly building of Goa is located in Porvorim, across Mandovi River from Panaji. The state falls under the judiciary hierarchy of Mumbai and thus comes under Bombay High Court. Unlike other states in the country that follow the British Indian Model of Civil Laws, Goa still follows the Portuguese Uniform Civil Code, which is based on the Napoleonic Code.


Sh. Bhagat Singh Koshyari
Honorable Governor of Goa
Address:Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula, Goa-403004.
EPABX:+91-832-2453506/2453507/2453508
FAX:+91-832-2453510
Telephone (Off):+91-832-2453501/2453502
Email:governor@rajbhavangoa.org










Ministers of Goa

Shri Pramod Sawant
Portfolios : Home, Finance, Personnel, Vigilance, General Administration

Shri Vijay Sardesai
Town & Country Planning, Agriculture, Archives, Archeology, Factories and Boilers

Shri Manohar Ajgaonkar
Tourism, Sports and Youth Affairs, Printing and Stationery

Shri Rohan Khaunte
Revenue, Information Technology, Labour and Employment

Shri Govind Gaude
Art and Culture, Civil Supplies and Price Control, Tribal Welfare

Shri Vinoda Paliencar
Water Resources, Fisheries, Legal Metrology

Shri Jayesh Salgaonkar
Housing with Housing Board, Rural Development, Ports

Shri Mauvin Godinho
Panchayat, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, Protocol

Shri Vishwajit Rane
Health, Women and Child Development, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

Shri Milind Naik
Urban Development, Social Welfare, Provedoria

Shri Nilesh Cabral
Power, Non Conventional Energy, Law and Judiciary, Legislature Affairs

Shri Deepak Pauskar
Public Works, Museum

District Courts of Goa

On 1st November 1963, after the Code of Criminal was extended to the state of Goa, a Sessions Court was established with its headquarters at Panaji and on 15th June 1966, when the Code of Civil Procedure and Civil Laws was extended here, this court was then named as the District and Sessions Court. Furthermore, on 4th February 1981, a second District and Sessions Court was established in Margao, South Goa, which also included some territories such as Ponda, Quepem, Salcete and Mormugao that were previously included in North Goa.

After the establishment of the two District and Sessions Court in Panaji and Margao, the subsidiary Civil and Criminal Courts at Mapusa, Panaji, Daman and Diu and Bicholim came under the jurisdiction of the District and Sessions Court in Panaji, North Goa, while the other subordinate Civil and Criminal Courts at Ponda, Margao, Mormugao and Quepem fell under the jurisdiction of the District and Sessions Court at Margao in South Goa. However, in 1988 the Civil and Criminal Court located at Ponda was shifted to the jurisdiction of the District and Sessions Court in North Goa and at the same time, two new Courts of Civil Judges, Junior Division and Judicial Magistrate of First Class were established at Pernem and Valpoi by the Government.

Furthermore, Goa is home to one Court of Principal District and Sessions Judge, 3 Courts of District Judges, 2 Courts of Ad-hoc District Judges, 1 Court of Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court and Additional Senior Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate of First Class and 2 Courts of Civil Judges, Junior Division and Judicial Magistrate of First Class located at Panaji headquarters.

Current Profiles of Judges in Goa

Judges in Goa
Hon’ble Shri Justice Nitin. M. Jamdar
Educational Qualifications: Graduated from University of Mumbai
Practiced in the Bombay High Court in almost all jurisdictions.
Elevated as a Judge of the Bombay High court on 23 January 2012.



Judiciary in GoaHon’ble Shri Justice Chandrakant Vasant Bhadang
Date of Birth: 5 November 1960
Educational Qualifications: Graduated in Science from G.S. College of Commerce, Science and Arts, Khamgaon in 1981.
Obtained LL.B. Degree from Nagpur University and was enrolled as an Advocate on 5 December 1984. Elevated as a Judge, Bombay High Court on 3 March 2014.



Advocates in Goa
Hon’ble Shri Justice Ms. Nutan D. Sardessai
Date of Birth: 19th August, 1958
Educational Qualifications: B.Sc. (Hons.) and L.L.M. Postgraduate from the University of Poona.
Elevated as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court on 28.03.2016.
High Court of Bombay at GoaHon’ble Shri Justice Prithviraj Keshavrao Chavan
Date of Birth: 22nd February 1963
Educational Qualifications: B.Sc. (Zoology) from Shivaji University, Kolhapur (1983), LL.B. Degree from Nagpur University (1987)
Elevated as Additional Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay on 5th June, 2017.













High Court of Bombay at Goa

Before the occupation of Goa and Daman and Diu, the highest order of Court in these territories was the Tribunal De Relecao located at Panaji. On 16th December 1963, the Tribualn De Relecao was dissolved after the Court of Judicial Commissioner was established under Goa – Daman & Diu Regulation 1963. In 1964, an Act was passed through which the Parliament bestowed some powers of the High Court to the Court of Judicial Commissioner. This allowed the Parliament to extend the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court to Goa and Daman and Diu and thereby on 30th October 1982, established a bench of the High Court at the capital city of Goa – Panaji.

The Goa, Daman and Reo-organization Act 1987 allowed the Parliament to bestow statehood to Goa, where the Bombay High Court became the common court for Maharashtra and Goa along with the Union Territories of Haveli, Dadra & Nagar and Daman and Diu.

The old High Court building of Tribunal De Relacao was shifted to Lyceum Complex at Panaji in North Goa in 1997. Justice GF Couto was the first Goan permanent judge at the Bombay High Court bench at Panaji. Justice E.S Da Silva became a part of this court in 1990 until his retirement in 1995. Justice R.M.S. Khandeparkar and Justice R.K. Batta were also a part of this court for a brief period of time. Senior Lawyers Justice F.M. Reis and Justice A.P Lavande, who are a part of the Bombay High Court, practiced over here in Goa before their promotion. For more information on judiciary in Goa, click here
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