Don't whatever you do be tempted or persuaded to purchase a property in Goa at this time (July 2008), not only has the local Government thrown the whole issue of who can and who can't own property in Goa into complete turmoil over the interpretation of a single word in their own legislation, they seem intent on applying their new or different interpretation retrospectively putting the legality of over 400 property owners in serious doubt.
What has shocked and horrified me is the retrospective application, the local government seems to be reversing the interpretation of a section of the act covering the purchase of property buy foreigners 4 years after the event! 4 years during which respected and local lawyers had in complete harmony advised buyers that if they followed the rules in the FEMA (the legislation governing the purchase of property by overseas citizens) they where safe.
Now it is one thing for overseas lawyers to get it wrong, but local lawyers? can you imagine the outcry if Hounslow District Council decided unilaterally that all houses purchased in the last 4years by Overseas buyers did not according to their interpretation of one word actually belong to the owners of a property they have paid for and have been taxed for and that it should be auctioned off!!
I'm certain that it would cause an outrage of mega mega mega proportions, and would be overruled by the central government overnight.
So lets hope the Indian Central Government intervenes quickly in this debacle and does the sensible thing and tells the Local Goa Authorities that they can by all means have a new interpretation if they want to, but it is very bad for the image and standing of any government to be seen to singling out and punishing people when they followed the best advice of that countries lawyers. And if they don't understand, then they need look no further than the terminal self inflicted damage the UK Labour government has caused itself with retrospective application of UK VED taxation which in one foul swoop turned taxation into punishment for the first time in UK history.
