Team Herald
PANJIM: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Friday adjourned former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar’s petition seeking early hearing against eight rebel MLAs disqualification petition by the Goa Assembly Speaker, to March 10.
In his writ petition, Chodankar has asked the Court to issue directions to the State Legislative Assembly Speaker to dispose of the disqualification petition within a period of 90 days.
On Friday, the Speaker filed an affidavit before the High Court raising preliminary objection stating that a direction cannot be issued to him as he is a Constitutional functionary and the Constitution of India confers a high Constitutional status on the Speaker. Therefore, he sought to know whether a direction can be issued to the Speaker to decide a disqualification petition within a particular time frame.
The eight MLAs against whom the disqualification petition has been filed and who have been named as respondents in the petition also sought more time to file their replies. However, some of the respondents filed their replies and the Court asked the other to do so.
Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, Adv Abhijit Gosavi said that the three-member Supreme Court Bench has given a verdict that the Speaker should decided disqualification petitions against MLAs pending before him within a stipulated time frame. The special Division Bench comprising Justice B P Colabawalla and Justice B P Deshpande too observed that it cannot remain quite if the Speaker arbitrarily sleeps over the petition for 10 long years.
The Speaker in his affidavit stated that he had already started hearing two disqualification petitions filed before him and in a similar way, he will hear the disqualification petition filed by Chodankar against eight MLAs.
