In a significant legal ruling, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the decision of the Goa Assembly Speaker, Ramesh Tawadkar, to not disqualify eight Congress MLAs who defected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022.
The controversy began when eight Congress MLAs, namely Digambar Kamat, Aleixo Sequeira, Sankalp Amonkar, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Rudolf Fernandes, and Rajesh Faldesai, crossed over to the BJP on September 14, 2022. This move significantly altered the political landscape in Goa, increasing the BJP’s strength from 20 to 28 in the 40-member assembly.
Following this, Girish Chodankar, then-president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC), filed a disqualification petition against the MLAs, arguing that their defection violated the anti-defection law. The Speaker dismissed this petition on November 1, leading Chodankar to challenge the decision in the High Court on January 6.
The division bench, consisting of Justices Makarand Karnik and Nivedita Mehta, deliberated on the petition and ultimately dismissed it, thus upholding the Speaker’s initial decision. The court’s ruling reinforces the Speaker’s authority in matters of legislative assembly conduct and member disqualification under the anti-defection law.
This decision is pivotal for the political dynamics in Goa, as it solidifies the BJP’s majority in the state assembly and potentially influences future legislative actions and governance. The ruling also sets a precedent for how defection cases might be handled in the future, underscoring the judiciary’s role in interpreting legislative rules and the anti-defection law.
