PANJIM: The Congress on Thursday filed disqualification petition against its ten former MLAs, who quit the party and merged its legislative wing with ruling BJP, before State Legislative Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar, claiming the merger as ‘illegal’.
Disqualification petition has been filed against Deputy Speaker and Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes, Deputy Chief Minister and Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar, WRD Minister and Velim MLA Felipe Neri Rodrigues, Revenue Minister and Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate, Panjim MLA Atanasio Monserrate, Cuncolim MLA Clafasio Dias, Nuvem MLA Wilfred D’Sa and Thivim MLA Nilkant Halarnkar.
All the ten MLAs had merged Congress legislative wing with BJP, last month.
Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar, the petitioner, has urged Speaker to disqualify all the ten MLAs as Members of State Legislative Assembly.
He has also demanded that pending hearing and final disposal of the matter, the respondents be restrained from functions as Member of the House and holding any constitutional post or office of profit.
The disqualification petition has been filed under provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
Petitioner states that respondents have voluntarily given up membership of their original political party (i.e Indian National Congress Party) on whose behalf they had contested and stood elected to the Goa State Legislative Assembly from their respective constituencies.
The respondents have incurred disqualification under Article 191(2) of the Constitution read with paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule and are liable to be disqualified as member of the legislative assembly, he said.
The petitioner claimed that there is no valid merger in terms of the Tenth Schedule of Constitution of India, which is presently the only exception/defence to the disqualification. “In the present case there is no merger of the “Original Political Party”, that is, the Indian National Congress Party, has taken place and the said party is still existing and is duly recognised and consequently there cannot be a claim of valid merger as contemplated under Tenth Schedule by respondents,” he stated.
Chodankar said that the action of respondents, does not amount to a valid merger of political party on account of the fact that a merger could only be of a political party with any other political party.
“The legislature party of a political party by itself had no authority or power to merge with any other political party, without the merger of its original political party,” he mentioned adding that even if two-third legislators of legislative party had agreed to merge, in law there cannot be any merger without merger of the original Political party.
The petitioner further claimed that for a merger of any political party the procedure contemplated under the constitution of their party has to be followed, which has not been done in the present case and therefore question of valid merger of any political party does not even arise.
“Further, any merger or otherwise of the political party has to be approved by the authority which recognises the political parties in the country, that is, the Election Commission of India,” it said.
