On Thursday, the Bombay High Court dismissed the Congress and MGP (Maharashtra Gomantak Party) petitions seeking the disqualification of 12 Goa MLAs who switched to the BJP in 2019.Â
According to news agency PTI, the court stated that the
“petitioners have not been able to build up a case for intervention in the impugned orders passed by the Speaker,”
according to news agency PTI.Â
Last year’s judgment by Assembly Speaker Rajesh Patnekar to dismiss two disqualification petitions “cannot be considered to militate against the goal of introducing the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution on the touchstone of political and constitutional morality,” the court added.Â
Ten MLAs had deserted from the Congress, while two had defected from the MGP, Goa’s oldest regional party.
The MLAs contended that the merger was lawful and not a defection under the constitution’s 10th schedule because they made up two-thirds of the legislature.
Goa Congress chairman Girish Chodankar filed one of the petitions. The MGP has submitted a new plea.Â
The Bombay High Court’s Goa Bench issued the ruling on Thursday, just days after the country’s smallest state held a single-phase election to elect its new government.Â
“I applaud the decision of the Hon. In a tweet, High Court in dismissing the petition filed by Congress and MGP against the merger of 12 MLAs into the BJP Legislature Party,”
said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The defamation effort was defeated by democracy and constitutional mandate.Â
“It is going to set a horrible precedent, not only for the Congress, but for all political parties in the country,”
the Goa leader said,
“because after an election, a few MLAs might come together and decide to join another party.”
The Congress had learned from the defections and required its poll candidates to sign an oath of fidelity this time.Â
Edited By : Mahi Gupta
Published By : K. Bindhiya Prarthana
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