The Goa Human Rights Commission has held that excessive noise and fumes from the exhaust system of a Margao-based restaurant infringe on the fundamental rights of a senior citizen couple living directly above it. The Commission recommended that the restaurant relocate the exhaust system within 30 days.

In its inquiry report, the GHRC directed M/s Café 108 to shift its kitchen-fume and smoke outlet to an open area above the building’s entrance passage to restore peace for the residents. The Commission also tasked the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) with ensuring compliance within the stipulated timeframe.

The proceedings arose from a complaint filed by Rajiv A. Naik Dalal, a resident of a first-floor flat at The P.M. Dias Residency Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. in Borda, Margao. Dalal stated that Café 108, a vegetarian eatery operating from two ground-floor shops directly beneath his residence, had failed to comply with recommendations intended to protect his health, peace and well-being as a senior citizen.

The Salcete Mamlatdar had earlier sealed the restaurant on December 11, 2025, following directions from the GSPCB. Although the unit was briefly unsealed in February 2026 for trial runs, the GSPCB subsequently issued a three-month temporary revocation order on May 20, 2026, allowing the restaurant to resume operations—a move strongly opposed by Dalal. Meanwhile, the eatery had approached the Administrative Tribunal in Panaji against the pollution board’s directives, arguing before the GHRC that the complaint was not maintainable.

To assess the situation on the ground, the full GHRC bench conducted an on-site inspection on August 28, 2026, accompanied by three GSPCB engineers, the complainant and a partner of the restaurant.

The inspection revealed that the restaurant’s exhaust duct, which channels cooking fumes and smoke from the kitchen loft to above the roof, ran through an enclosed service duct between the building’s walls. The Commission observed that because the shaft was tightly enclosed, it produced a continuous and prominent hum. Inside Dalal’s flat, the noise was found to be particularly high in the kitchen, toilets and bedrooms, even though it was claimed to be within permissible limits for a commercial establishment.

Holding that the setup directly disturbed the peace essential to the senior citizen couple, the Commission noted that routing fumes through a closed space generated high sound levels inside the flat above, amounting to a violation of human rights. The panel also flagged Café 108’s failure to submit comments on the site inspection report despite being given multiple opportunities, as well as its absence during the final oral arguments, describing these actions as delay tactics.

Invoking Section 18(e) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, the Commission gave Café 108 30 days to shift the fume exhaust towards the open passage area. The restaurant and the GSPCB have both been directed to submit an Action Taken Report to the Commission on or before October 26, 2026.