4 min readPanajiMay 7, 2026 05:55 AM IST
The High Court of Bombay at Goa barred the entry of a new casino vessel in the Mandovi river in Panaji, observing that the vessel shall not sail into the Panaji port without the prior permission of the court and without obtaining all the required certifications.
The petitioners – the association ‘Enough is Enough’, Sudip Tamankar and Harish Madkaikar – had filed a public interest litigation and sought directions to set aside various permissions granted to M/s Delta Pleasure Cruise Company Pvt Ltd to replace the vessel ‘M.V. Royale Flotel’, which had a passenger capacity of 70, with the company’s new vessel ‘M.V. Deltin Royale’ with a passenger capacity of 2000 in the Mandovi river. The petitioners also sought to restrain the new vessel from being moored in the Mandovi.
In an interim order on Wednesday, a Division Bench of Justices Amit S Jamsandekar and Valmiki Menezes said: “Considering that, as of today, the vessel does not possess a certificate of survey, we deem it appropriate to direct that the vessel in question shall not sail into the Panaji Port, i.e, in the river Mandovi, without obtaining all the required certifications. Further, even if such certificates and requirements for sailing of the vessel into the Panaji Port are obtained, the vessel shall not sail into the Port without prior permission of this court”.
During the proceedings, the counsel for Delta Pleasure Cruise Company Pvt Ltd told the court that the new vessel will not be able to come to the Mandovi river till the monsoon sets in and the vessel is at present berthed at Mormugao Port Trust.
The court also took note of the statement by the Secretary, Department of Home, in the affidavit filed by the government, stating that “in the event the government of Goa decides to permit casino operations in the new vessel which is subject matter of this petition, the government of Goa would first place such decision before this court, before issuing any order to the respondent no. 3 [Delta]…to that effect.”
“Taking note of said statement, we are assured by the government of Goa that the order amending the licence issued to M.V. Royale Flotel, which was for 70 passengers, would not be amended in favour of the new vessel, M.V. Deltin Royale, without first placing the decision of the government before this court,” the court said.
People across Panaji and nearby areas are opposing the entry of a new 112-metre-long and 28-metre-wide vessel in the Mandovi river, arguing that such a mega casino vessel would gravely impact the ecology and environment of the river and impact the livelihood of fisherfolk who operate along its coast. In the petition, the petitioners said that despite Secretary (Ports) flagging in a file noting in 2021 that new vessels may create further navigational hazards due to clustering of vessels, which would create a bottleneck at the mooring position, an NOC had been granted to bring in a new vessel.
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The petitioners submitted that the total passenger capacity of the six ‘offshore’ vessels currently allowed to operate in the Mandovi is 1987 passengers. “It is shocking to note that the total passenger capacity of all these vessels put together still falls below the passenger capacity of the new vessel, which exceeds 2000 passengers.” The petitioners said that the company does not have a license to operate the new vessel for gaming in the Mandovi. “It therefore cannot be moored in the Mandovi and no installation of electronic amusements, slot machines, gaming etc. can be carried out on the same. The law does not provide for “replacing” an existing vessel with a new vessel. Section 13E of the Goa Gambling Act permits transfer of a license to “any other person”. However, the said license in such a case would pertain to the same vessel. Even if the new vessel seeks to replace M.V. Royale Flotel, it would have to obtain its own fresh license in light of the fact that the license granted to a vessel is passenger capacity specific,” the petition said.
