The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear Congress leader Girish Chodankar’s plea challenging the merger of eight Congress MLAs with the BJP in Goa, questioning the High Court’s approval of the Speaker’s dismissal of disqualification proceedings.
The court upheld the decision not to disqualify Congress MLAs who joined the BJP in 2022. On November 1 last year, Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar dismissed the disqualification plea against eight MLAs: Digambar Kamat, Aleixo Sequeira, Sankalp Amonkar, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Rudolf Fernandes, and Rajesh Faldesai. The plea sought action against them under anti-defection laws. However, the Speaker ruled in their favor, allowing them to retain their positions despite switching parties.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled the appointment of six MLAs as Parliamentary Secretaries unconstitutional, declaring the related Act invalid and mandating the withdrawal of CPS roles and privileges. The state government plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, although relief is considered unlikely, as constitutional violations were identified.
