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Will hear Cong disqualification pleas in 2-3 weeks: Goa speaker Ramesh Tawadkar
Goa assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar said he has received two disqualification petitions from the Congress and will hold a hearing in 15-20 days
PANAJI: Goa speaker Ramesh Tawadkar said that he will schedule hearings on the bunch of disqualification petitions filed by the Congress over the next two to three weeks after issuing notices to the parties involved.
Tawadkar made the announcement in context of two fresh petitions filed by former state Congress president Girish Chodankar and another Congress worker Domnic Noronha. “We will call for responses from both sides and I shall hold a hearing within 15-20 days. I am under no pressure,” Tawadkar told reporters on Monday.
The Congress has filed multiple petitions seeking the disqualification of eight legislators who shifted sides in mid-September and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that they were shielded from action under the anti-defection law since they make up for more than 2/3rd of the strength of the party in the assembly.
Previous petitions filed by the Congress, seeking action under the anti-defection law were ruled in favour of the legislators who switched sides.
In April 2021, the then Speaker Rajesh Patnekar ruled that 10 of the 15 Congress legislators who switched sides in 2015 merged their party with the BJP and didn’t attract disqualification. This view was later upheld by the Bombay high court at Goa, but is currently pending appeal before the Supreme Court.
In its verdict, the high court reasoned that the MLAs were protected from disqualification in view of the provision of the anti-defection law, which states that if two-third or more legislators switch sides, it will be deemed that the original political party has merged.
A Congress complaint against Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat is also pending before the speaker in which the party accused the two of luring legislators to the ruling BJP even before the ‘defection’ took place.
