TEAM HERALD
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned hearing on the petition of Caetano (Caitu) Silva for six weeks, directing former Chief Minister Churchill’s daughter Valanka Alemao to file the Home Ministry order declaring him as a foreigner within three weeks.
Silva was directed to file a rejoinder within a week thereafter by the bench of Justices Sudhansu Mukhopadhaya and V Gopala Gowda after a legal wrangle between his lawyers and former additional solicitor general Harin Rawal appearing for Valanka.
Rawal sought to challenge Silva seeking reversal of an order of the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court refusing his certain pleadings, pointing out that his election to the Assembly stands automatically quashed as he was a Portuguese citizen since 2010, not qualified to even file nominations.
Silva’s lawyers, however, feigned ignorance about any such order or his disqualification. This angered Rawal to point out that they cannot claim denial of the Home Ministry order declaring him as Portuguese when they have already challenged the order before Delhi High Court.
To eliminate unnecessary wrangle, the bench directed Rawal to file all documents, Valanka wants to rely upon, to plead against Silva instead of making oral submissions. It also wanted to know the pending petition of Silva before the Delhi High Court. It wondered why the relevant documents were not filed in the intervening period despite seeking time at the last date of the hearing.
