High Court Upholds Speaker's Decision: No Disqualification for MLAs

The Goa bench of the Bombay High Court has upheld the decision of assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar not to disqualify eight Congress MLAs who joined the BJP in September 2022. Former GPCC president Girish Chodankar's petition against this decision was dismissed, maintaining BJP's heightened majority in the assembly.

In a significant judgment, the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court ruled in favor of assembly speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, confirming his decision to not disqualify the eight Congress MLAs who defected to the BJP in September last year.

The case first emerged when former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Girish Chodankar challenged the MLAs' loyalty shift in a disqualification petition, which Tawadkar dismissed in November 2022.

The recent High Court ruling, delivered by Justices Makarand Karnik and Nivedita Mehta, dismissed Chodankar's appeal, effectively solidifying the BJP's control with a 28-seat majority in the 40-member assembly.

(With inputs from agencies.)