SUNDAY, MAY 05, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Speaker Rajesh Patnekar on Thursday issued summons to Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar, to be present in his chambers at the Assembly complex on April 20 at 4.30pm.
This is in connection with the disqualification petition against the ten Congress MLAs who defected to BJP in July 2019. The Speaker is expected to deliver his verdict at this time.
“The above petition for Disqualification under Para 2(1) (B) of the Tenth Schedule read with Art. 191 (@) of the Constitution of India and read with the Members of the Goa Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules 1986 is fixed for hearing on April 20, 2021 at 4.30pm in the Chamber of the honourable speaker at the Assembly complex, Porvorim. You are requested to take notice and in default of your appearance, either in person or through counsel, the petition shall be heard and determined in your absence,” states the notice signed by Namrata A Ulman, Secretary Legislature.
On April 6, the Supreme Court had directed the Speaker to deliver his order on the two disqualification petitions on April 20. The second petition was filed by Ramakrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) against two MLAs who are now ministers in the BJP government.
The Speaker has already held separate meetings with the petitioners and had earlier fixed April 29 as the date for orders on their disqualification petitions.
Following the instructions it had sent to the Speaker, the Supreme Court had also adjourned the two cases to April 22, that’s just a day before the retirement of Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde heading the Bench that also comprises Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
Both petitions are due to the Speaker not giving any decision on their pleas to disqualify the defector MLAs under the anti-defection law.
Incidentally, it has been a year and a half since Chodankar filed the petition in August 2010 and yet there has been no decision on the petition.
