Goemkarponn desk
PORVORIM: Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar today has filed an affidavit before the High Court of Bombay at Goa in a disqualification petition filed by Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) Leader Girish Chodankar.
Speaker has contended the Court cannot issue directions to him as Speaker as it is a constitutional post.
The High Court is giving time to respondent MLAs High Court has adjourned the hearing for March 10.
A special Bench of the High Court at Goa comprising Justices B P Colabawalla and Bharat P Deshpande had issued the notices to Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar and the eight MLAs and sought their reply within two weeks.
The disqualification petition was filed by former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar before the Speaker on November 11, 2022, two months after the cross-over by the then-Opposition MLAs.
Chodankar, in his petition has pointed to a precedent set by the Supreme Court in the case of Manipur, where the Supreme Court had ruled that given the inordinate delay in hearing the case, the members who faced disqualification petitions could not hold official positions like being ministers
The eight Congress MLAs joined the ruling BJP in September 2022.
“Chodankar had moved the HC on February 2, 2023, with a plea to direct the Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker to decide on his disqualification petition against the eight Congress MLAs who have defected within 90 days,” said Advocate Gosavi.
