SC Refuses To Hear Petition To Disqualify Eight Goa Congress MLAs

The Supreme Court has declined to hear the petition to disqualify eight Goa Congress MLAs. Justices Suryakant and KV Vishwanathan made the ruling. The petition was filed by former Goa Congress chief Girish Chodankar after the MLAs joined the ruling BJP in 2022.

Goa Assembly Speaker Rejects Disqualification Petition

Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar dismissed the disqualification petition. He stated that if two-thirds of a party’s MLAs disagree with their party, they can be considered disqualified. The petition targeted MLAs Digambar Kamat, Alexo Sequeira, Sankalp Amonkar, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Rudolf Fernandes, and Rajesh Faldesai.

Chodankar’s Argument on Voluntary Defection

Chodankar argued that the eight MLAs voluntarily gave up their membership of Congress. He urged the Speaker to disqualify them under Para 2 of the Tenth Schedule and Article 191 of the Constitution. He pointed out that these MLAs had contested and won the elections on Congress tickets, and no valid merger of the party had occurred.

The Goa Assembly elections were held on February 14, 2022, with results declared on March 10. BJP won 20 out of 40 seats, while Congress won 11. On February 24, 2022, the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court dismissed two petitions challenging the Speaker’s order. The petitions were filed by Chodankar and MGP MLA after 10 Congress MLAs joined the BJP.

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