The writ petition names Law Secretary S Subanna, Chief Town Planner, R N Ray, Public Works Department Executive Engineer M N Padmanabhaiah, former development commissioner S R Kakodkar among several other junior officers as beneficiaries of the allotment. The petitioner pointed out that traditional rules in the allotment of communidade lands have been violated in the present cases. In addition to traditional gaunkars, or shareholders of the land, allotments may be made to persons from low-income groups.

The petitioner has also urged the court to order an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any otherskilled agency to look into the allotments.

Communidades are believed to be in existence in Goa since medieval times when the first settlers cleared the forests and put down roots here. Though private ownership of property was permitted, much of the land remained in the hands of the community, which also undertook social and civic responsibilities.

Till the implementation of the Tenancy Act in 1964, nearly one-third of Goa's 3,021 sq km was in the hands of 223 communidades. Subsequently, much of the land was taken over by tenants. Even the remaining land with the communidades was open to acquisition by the government on grounds of public interest.

Consequently, bureaucrats and politicians are known to have exploited the loopholes in the law to allot land for themselves at throwaway prices, alleges the Association of Components of Communidades, an organisaton representing the original settlers of Goa.