PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has upheld the order of Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar dismissing the disqualification petition against eight Congress MLAs who defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022.
The Court, on Thursday, also disposed of the petition filed by former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar citing its earlier judgment on a similar merger involving 10 MLAs joining the BJP.
Earlier in the hearing on Wednesday, Advocate Abhijit Gosavi, representing Chodankar, requested the court to dispose the matter stating that the High Court had already ruled on a similar case previously filed by him. He further submitted that the issue would ultimately need to be resolved by the Supreme Court, where an appeal is being made.
Chodankar has hailed the High Court’s decision stating it would grant him sufficient time to approach the Supreme Court to get the petition disposed.
“The High Court in its steadfast endeavour upheld the rule of the law despite malicious attempts by the eight defectors and the BJP to obstruct the disposal of the petition. I am now free to file a petition in SC seeking a definitive interpretation of the disqualification laws outlined in the 10th schedule,” he said.
In December 2024, the Supreme Court declined to entertain Chodankar's plea. A Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar advised the Congress leader to approach the High Court to challenge the Speaker's decision dated November 1, 2024. Speaker Tawadkar had observed that the merger of an elected member's original political party with another party would not result in the member's disqualification in either contingency.
