Panaji : High Court of Bombay in Goa The petition seeking disqualification of ten and two Congress MLAs was dismissed on Thursday Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs who switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that it was a merger of 2/3 of the MLAs and not a defection.
The decision has come 10 days after the elections in the state.
The petitions, filed by state Congress president Girish Chodankar and MGP’s Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavalikar, challenged the orders passed by Speaker Rajesh Patnekar, which held that the rebel MLAs did not invite disqualification under the anti-defection law.
On July 10, 2019, 10 Congress MLAs, claiming to be two-thirds of the Congress legislature party in the Assembly, “merged” into the BJP and were allotted seats along with the BJP members in the House.
The final hearing began less than two weeks before the assembly elections and the debate went on for several days through virtual mode.
Chodankar challenged the order passed by Patnekar, which had dismissed his petition, which sought the disqualification of ten Congress MLAs.
In November, the High Court issued notices to Patnekar along with ten rebel Congress MLAs to respond by December 6 and give written statements by December 9.
Chodankar’s case is that the Speaker, who upheld the “merger” of ten Congress MLAs with the BJP, failed to take documentary evidence while deciding the disqualification petition.
The Congress party alleged favoritism and malice by the Speaker in deciding the matter.
“The Speaker deliberately delayed the proceedings pending before him since August 2019 and finally passed the order in the matter, after a delay of 20 months of filing the disqualification petition, that too only after the Supreme Court intervened by passing an order, Congress said.
During an earlier hearing in June last year, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chodankar, had argued that there was urgency in the matter considering the expiry of the term of the Assembly by March 2022, with only a few months left.
The decision has come 10 days after the elections in the state.
The petitions, filed by state Congress president Girish Chodankar and MGP’s Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavalikar, challenged the orders passed by Speaker Rajesh Patnekar, which held that the rebel MLAs did not invite disqualification under the anti-defection law.
On July 10, 2019, 10 Congress MLAs, claiming to be two-thirds of the Congress legislature party in the Assembly, “merged” into the BJP and were allotted seats along with the BJP members in the House.
The final hearing began less than two weeks before the assembly elections and the debate went on for several days through virtual mode.
Chodankar challenged the order passed by Patnekar, which had dismissed his petition, which sought the disqualification of ten Congress MLAs.
In November, the High Court issued notices to Patnekar along with ten rebel Congress MLAs to respond by December 6 and give written statements by December 9.
Chodankar’s case is that the Speaker, who upheld the “merger” of ten Congress MLAs with the BJP, failed to take documentary evidence while deciding the disqualification petition.
The Congress party alleged favoritism and malice by the Speaker in deciding the matter.
“The Speaker deliberately delayed the proceedings pending before him since August 2019 and finally passed the order in the matter, after a delay of 20 months of filing the disqualification petition, that too only after the Supreme Court intervened by passing an order, Congress said.
During an earlier hearing in June last year, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chodankar, had argued that there was urgency in the matter considering the expiry of the term of the Assembly by March 2022, with only a few months left.
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