PANAJI
Goa legislative assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Friday held the first physical hearing in the disqualification petition filed against Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and Calangute MLA Michael Lobo and granted the duo 30 days time to file their replies.
The petition seeking that Kamat and Lobo be disqualified under the Xth Schedule of the Constitution was filed by Congress State president Amit Patkar accusing the duo of anti-party activity by attempting to split the legislative wing which he claimed amounted to "voluntarily giving up" membership of the party.
At the hearing on Friday, Kamat and Lobo were represented by their respective counsels who both asked for 30-days' time to study the petition and accordingly file their replies as they had not been served the contents.
Tawadkar said, he granted the time sought by the counsels since the time sought had been granted to them as both sides had agreed.
Patkar had filed the petition in July after an alleged attempt to split the then 11-member CLP fizzled out in the face of rearguard action by the AICC general secretary in-charge of Goa Dinesh Gundu Rao who rushed to the State and swiftly removed Lobo as the CLP leader.
Show-cause notices were issued to Lobo and Kamat and the duo were accused of hatching a conspiracy in cahoots with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leadership to split the Congress.
Weeks later, however, the defection eventually materialised as eight of the eleven Congress legislators, including Kamat and Lobo, joined the BJP on September 14.
Patkar, meanwhile has also filed separate disqualification pleas against Kamat and Lobo as also the six other legislators who were part of the September 14 defection to the BJP.
Another two petitions have also been filed against these eight MLAs before Tawadkar by former Congress State president Girish Chodankar and another Congressman.
