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Goa Congress chief claims MLAs used forged document to win disqualification case
10 of the Congress’ 15 MLAs joined the BJP in September 2019. The Congress alleged that their switch amounted to defection under the 10th schedule of the Constitution and sought their disqualification from the assembly.
Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar filed a police complaint on Wednesday alleging 10 ex-party MLAs gave fake documents to the assembly speaker to save themselves against disqualification and to prove that the group had lawfully merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019. Chodankar’s claim comes a day after the speaker dismissed the disqualification petition he filed against the MLAs.
In his complaint, Chodankar said that the MLAs produced what was purported to be a resolution of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee agreeing to merge with the BJP, which he said was completely fabricated, as no such resolution was taken.
“[They] have conspired together and created a false document claiming it to be a resolution of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee... held on 10.07.2019... wherein a resolution was passed to merge the party in Goa Legislative Assembly into Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The aforesaid document is created illegally using counterfeit letterhead and counterfeit seal of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee,” Chodankar said in his complaint.
10 of the Congress’ 15 MLAs joined the BJP in September 2019. The Congress alleged that their switch amounted to defection under the 10th schedule of the Constitution and sought their disqualification from the assembly. The MLAs on their part claimed 2/3rd of the Congress legislature party had lawfully merged with the BJP. As per the anti-defection law, two-thirds of the strength of a legislative party is allowed to merge with another, without inviting disqualification. The speaker Rajesh Patnekar dismissed the disqualification plea filed by Chodankar on Tuesday. He also dismissed another disqualification plea filed by Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) against two of the three party MLAs who joined the BJP nearly six months earlier on March 27, 2019.
Chodankar’s complaint attempts to challenge the MLAs claim that they duly merged with the BJP. “Firstly, no such meeting of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee was called for and/or took place on 10.07.2019 and therefore the question of passing of any resolution as claimed in the said documents does not even arise,” the complaint says. It adds that no record of such a meeting was found in the register books maintained by the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee Committee. “As per the minutes book, there is record of meeting of office bearers of Pradesh Congress committee held on 29.05.2019 and 24.07.2019 and there is no other meeting in between the said meetings and certainly not of any meeting on 10.07.2019,” Chodankar said.
Chodankar has requested for registering a case of forgery, cheating, using a forged document as genuine, of giving false evidence and of possessing and using a counterfeit seal against the ten MLAs.
Responding to the allegation of forgery, Isidore Fernandes, who was one among the ten MLAs to switch to the BJP, accused the Congress of “forum hunting” to save face after the party’s case was dismissed by the speaker yesterday.
“The Speaker has dismissed the case. They are now filing complaints, cases and petitions in various fora. The law will take its own course,” Fernandes said.
Speaker Rajesh Patnekar said he couldn’t comment on the authenticity of the documents before him. “I cannot comment on whether it (the many documents in his file) is genuine or not. It is for the police to decide. The law will take its course,” Patnekar told HT.
Legal expert advocate Cleofato Almeida Coutinho said the Congress complaint may not hold much value at this stage.
“I’m pretty sure that there must not have been a resolution of the GPCC. But if the document submitted before the speaker is only signed by the former Congress MLAs, the question of forgery may not arise,” he said.
