Goa Congress to challenge HC order on disqualification in SC

Panaji, Feb 28 Congress's Goa state executive committee on Monday passed a resolution to challenge last week's order by the Bombay High Court bench in Goa, which last week dismissed a petition challenging Speaker Rajesh Patnekar's order in 2021 upholding the merger of 10 Congress MLAs into the BJP.

"We have taken a resolution during the meeting to challenge the High Court's order... Former Advocate General and Chairman of our legal cell Carlos Ferreira moved a resolution that this needs to be challenged in the Supreme Court and the resolution has been unanimously passed," state unit chief Girish Chodankar said, after a meeting of the state executive committee.

"The Pradesh Congress Committee had previously taken a resolution to file a disqualification against the 10 defectors. We briefed the PCC about the verdict of the High Court and all the members were of the opinion that if the order is allowed to stand then it will be dangerous for democracy and for the election process and questions the very existence of political parties," he said.

Chodankar had filed a disqualification petition with the Goa Speaker's office in 2019 and argued the split by the 10 Congress MLAs (in the same year) and their subsequent merger into the BJP was illegal and violative of the provisions of Schedule 10 of the Indian Constitution. The Goa Speaker in his order in April last year had upheld the merger of the breakaway Congress unit into the BJP.