Team Herald

PANJIM: Justice Mahesh Sonak, the judge of High Court of Bombay at Goa, on Monday recused from hearing the petition filed by former Congress president seeking to direct the Goa Assembly Speaker to decide the disqualification petition filed by him against eight defected MLAs within a time-bound manner as laid down by the Supreme Court.

Eight of the 11 Congress MLAs had defected and joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on September 14 last year.

In his petition, Girish Chodankar had contended that the Speaker should decide the disqualification petition within a period prescribed by law. He stated that the delay in disposal of disqualification petition virtually amounted to defeating the very purpose and objectives of Anti-Defection law, as contained in Schedule Tenth of the Constitution and sought expeditious disposal of the disqualification petition and more particularly in terms of the time-line laid down by Supreme Court in deciding such kind of petitions.

The petitioner can now approach a Special Bench of High Court of Bombay at Goa regarding the matter.