Goa, July 25 -- The Goa Legislative Assembly witnessed a heated exchange on Thursday during a Calling Attention motion moved by BJP MLA Nilesh Cabral on the Goa Escheats, Forfeiture and Bona Vacantia Act, 2024, and a viral video made by Congress MLA Adv Carlos Ferreira criticising the legislation and terming it an 'official land grab'.

Defending the Act, the government said it was rooted in Article 296 of the Constitution and aimed to safeguard vacant and abandoned land from encroachments, fraud and illegal possession. In essence, Article 296 empowers the government to take possession of property that has no rightful owner - such as when a person dies without legal heirs or when property is abandoned.

Cabral alleged that Ferreira's vide...