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Goa defections: Congress says HC order will encourage mandate reversal
Congress emerged as the single largest party after the 2017 assembly elections, but the BJP formed the government
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PANAJI: The high court order dismissing petitions against Goa Speaker’s rejection of pleas for disqualification of 12 lawmakers, who defected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 without resigning, sets a bad precedent and will encourage the use of money to change people’s mandate, the Congress has said.
State Congress chief Girish Chodankar, a petitioner in the case, said they will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court because it threatens the existence of political parties. “It will encourage... the kind of politics which is taking place all over the country... the kind of politics of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre... with the use of money, they can change the mandate,” said Chodankar.
Ten of the lawmakers, who defected, were elected on the tickets of Congress and the remaining two on that of Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP).
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Thursday dismissed the Congress and MGP’s pleas against the merger of the 12 lawmakers into the BJP legislature party. It upheld the Speaker’s view and said the defectors constituted two-thirds of the legislative wing of their parties and the lawmakers were protected from disqualification under the Tenth Schedule.
The Schedule was added to the Constitution in 1985 to tackle defections. The 91st Constitutional amendment introduced in 2003 restricted the size of a council of ministers to not more than 15% of the total strength of the House to discourage defections for the lure of becoming ministers.
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant, who was able to retain his post thanks to the defections, welcomed the high court order and said democracy and constitutional mandate has prevailed over the smear campaign.
The Congress emerged as the single largest party after the 2017 assembly elections. But the BJP formed the government with the help of Goa Forward and the MGP. Three Congress lawmakers resigned before 10 of the remaining 15 assembly members of the party defected to the BJP in 2019. In a memorandum submitted to the Speaker, the 10 claimed they adopted a resolution to merge the Congress legislature party with the BJP and hence were not violating the anti-defection law.
Two of the three MGP lawmakers also switched to the BJP. One of them, Deepak Pauskar, who was made a minister, was denied BJP ticket for the 2022 polls. Among the 10 Congress defectors, three were denied tickets.
The case centred around the interpretation of Section 4 (2) of the anti-defection law. Congress argued that for a merger to be valid under the law, it needs to satisfy the “twin test” of both “the merger of the original political party” and two-thirds members of the legislature party agreeing with it.
The high court cited the anti-defection law’s Section 4 (2), which says “the merger of the original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such a merger.”
It added no sooner two-thirds of the legislators switched sides, it constituted a “deemed merger” even if the original political parties did not merge. “It is specifically provided in sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 4 that merger of the original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to have taken place ‘if, and only if’ not less than two-thirds of the ‘members of the legislature party concerned’, have agreed to such merger. It is clear from the said wordings that the deeming fiction comes into operation on the stringent condition that not less than two-thirds members of the legislature party agree to such merger,” said a bench of Justices Manish Pitale and R N Laddha.
The high court said Congress’s arguments of the “twin test” were on a “fallacious basis” that the purpose of paragraph 4 of the Schedule is concerned only with the merger of political parties. “The purpose of paragraph 4 of...is to protect a member of the House from disqualification, which otherwise he would have suffered because of having voluntarily given up membership of his original political party.”
Chodankar maintained the verdict gives the power to the lawmakers to change the people’s mandate. “This will set a bad precedent not only for the Congress but for all political parties across the country.” Chodankar said the order challenges the spirit of the Constitution’s 10th Schedule.
