Team Herald
PANJIM: Congress has demanded for hourly release of bulletins on the health condition of Speaker Rajesh Patnekar, who has been admitted in Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) for cardiac-related ailments.
The party suspect mischievous attempts by the ruling BJP ahead of the upcoming hearing on the disqualification petition filed against ten Congress MLAs (former) before the Supreme Court on Friday..
“We pray for speedy recovery of Patnekar. We are confident that Almighty will bless him with strength and wisdom to keep his honest say before the Supreme Court on August 28 for a healthy democracy,” said Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar in a statement issued.
He added that the party strongly demands with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane to release hourly bulletins on the health condition of Patnekar.
The Supreme Court on August 11 granted two weeks time to the Speaker to file an additional affidavit in the disqualification matter after the respondent claimed that information and documents required could not be completed on account of COVID19 situation in the State.
The disqualification petitions filed against the ten MLAs by Congress President Girish Chodankar along with two MGP MLAs filed by Sudin Dhavalikar, all who joined BJP, has been scheduled for hearing on Friday.
During the last hearing held on July 23, the Speaker had informed Court that due to the COVID-19 outbreak-enforced lockdown and the worsening situation thereafter, no hearing was conducted in the disqualification petition filed against ten MLAs who had defected from the Congress.
The petitioners, in both the matter, had contended that the Speaker has violated the deadline of three months to decide on a disqualification petition, which had been set by the Supreme Court in a recent ruling pertaining to a Manipur MLA’s defection matter.
