Team Herald
PANJIM: Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLA Ramkrishan (Sudin) Dhavalikar on Wednesday withdrew his first disqualification petition filed against two former party members Manohar (Babu) Ajgaonkar and Deepak Pauskar, but retained the second.
Seeking a clarification from Dhavalikar, Speaker Rajesh Patnekar asked him whether he was pressing for the first or second petition. Dhavalikar, who was accompanied his lawyer Dhaval Zaveri gave a written statement that he was not going ahead with the first petition.
After the hearing, Dhavalikar said that during the previous hearing his lawyer had told the Speaker that the party wants to withdraw the first petition filed on May 3, 2019. “Today we have given in writing that we are withdrawing the first petition,” he said.
Zaveri said that there was a conundrum because there were two petitions before the Speaker. MGP had filed one petition in the matter on May 3, 2019 and another on May 10, 2019. Since there were some issues of non-compliance of rules in the first petition, the party subsequently submitted another petition to the similar effect.
Zaveri said that the law on disqualification of MLAs has been already settled by the Supreme Court constitutional bench in the Manipur MLAs matter. “Law is settled by Apex Court and Assembly Speaker has to decide on disqualification petitions within three months,” he said
He said that the MGP has also approached the Supreme Court citing the judgement on the Manipur MLAs and has prayed for a similar direction to the Goa Assembly Speaker.
Zaveri also disclosed that the Speaker made a statement that as and when the judgement is ready he will issue them a notice and call them. “We expect the order as early as possible,” he said.
Ajgaonkar and Pauskar had joined BJP in the wee hours of March 27, 2019. Ajgaonkar was then made Deputy Chief Minister and Pauskar was inducted as a Cabinet Minister after dropping the then Deputy CM Sudin Dhavalikar from the cabinet.
Patnekar is also likely to call the other petitioner – Congress president Girish Chodankar – for some queries regarding his petition against the 10 Congress rebel legislators who joined BJP in July 2019.
