PANJIM: Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Saturday hinted that he will take a cue from Supreme Court’s recent directives to Maharashtra Speaker to set a timeline for deciding disqualification petitions.
Tawadkar had already fixed the hearing against eight rebel Congress MLAs on September 29.
On September 18, the Apex Court asked the Maharashtra Speaker to set a timeline within a week, for deciding disqualification pleas against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Shiv Sena MLAs supporting him arising out of rifts within the Shiv Sena Party in June last year.
Tawadkar is hearing disqualification petitions against eight rebel Congress MLAs, who switched over to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in September last year.
Speaking to O Heraldo, he said, “Yes I will also have to come out (with timeline to decide disqualification pleas). I have already fixed two hearings on September 29.”
When it was brought to his notice that the Supreme Court has expressed its displeasure over the delay by the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker in deciding the disqualification petitions arising out of the rift between Shiv Sena MLAs, Tawadkar said, “You know parties are seeking time.”
On September 29 at 5 pm, Tawadkar will hear a disqualification petition filed by State Congress president Amit Patkar against the then Leader of Opposition Michael Lobo and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat for voluntarily giving up Congress party’s membership in July last year. Later at 5:30 pm, he will hear the disqualification petition filed by Dominic Noronha against eight rebel Congress MLAs who joined the BJP in September last year.
In June this year, the Speaker had rejected the applications filed by both – Lobo and Kamat, seeking dismissal of the disqualification petition filed against them by Patkar on ground that the latter was not a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and that he cannot file such a petition.
However, the Speaker has not fixed hearing on two other disqualification petitions filed by Patkar and former Congress president Girish Chodankar against the eight rebel Congress MLAs.