The stay, ordered last week, follows a PIL filed by the Goa Foundation, an NGO, which alleges that construction of the guesthouse violates the Coastal Regulation Zone notification of the Government.

The plea also points out that the company had sought permission from the Candolim Panchayat and the Goa Committee on Coastal Environment for construction of the guesthouse in an area earmarked for residential units in the CRZ. It claims that a guesthouse cannot be permitted in a CRZ-III area as it is not a residential unit.

UB had originally proposed to construct five buildings in the coastal area. However, the plea says such buildings do not fall within the CRZ definition of "dwelling units permitted so long as it is within the ambit of customary usages such as existingfishing villages as Gaothans."