Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Thursday heard arguments from the petitioner, Dominic Noronha, who is seeking the disqualification of eight rebel Congress MLAs who switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in September 2022. The Speaker has scheduled two consecutive days to complete the final arguments, even as he has fast-tracked hearings on disqualification petitions following directives from the Supreme Court.
Arguing on behalf of the petitioner, senior advocate S N Padiyar cited several court rulings to demonstrate that the eight respondents had attracted disqualification under the Anti-defection Act. He pointed out that according to paragraph 4(2) of the Tenth Schedule, the MLAs were liable for disqualification since there was no actual merger of one political party with another.
The arguments by the petitioner will continue on Friday, after which the respondents will present their cases. Last month, the Supreme Court asked the Goa Assembly Speaker to fulfil his constitutional obligation while deciding disqualification pleas against the eight MLAs. The apex court has scheduled the matter for further hearing in the first week of November.
Furthermore, the Speaker has also decided to fast-track the hearings of disqualification petitions in view of the directives of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, delivered on May 1, 2023, asking him to decide disqualification petitions in a timely manner.
In addition to Noronha, the Speaker is also hearing two other petitions filed by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Amit Patkar and former president Girish Chodankar.