the goan I network
PANAJI
The Bombay High Court at Goa has dismissed the petition filed by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party seeking quashing of the decision of the Speaker Pramod Sawant to promptly accept the resignations of two Congress legislators -- Dayanand Sopte and Subhash Shirodkar -- and has imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh on the party.
“In the instant case before us, in view of the facts presented before us, we do not deem it appropriate to enter into the political questions presented for determination in the petition. The Petition is, according to us, in a way abuse of the process of the Court. We, therefore, while dismissing the Petition, direct the Petitioners to pay costs which we quantify at Rs 1 lakh,” the court ruled.
Upholding the right of legislators to resign, the High Court ruled that “a legislator is the servant, but not the slave of the people.”
“An eligible person has a right to contest the elections. It is for the electorate to make its choice. Once a candidate is elected, ordinarily he is expected to function as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the requisite term. There is nothing in the Constitution which takes away the right of an elected member to resign from his seat. Denial of such a right to an elected member would be destructive of principles of democracy,” the High Court Division bench of Justices R M Borde and Prithviraj Chavan said.
“It is true that frequent resignations and frequent by-elections are a drain on the finances of the State and may prove irksome. But that is no reason to compel an elected member who has no desire to continue his membership, to continue as such. A person, after getting elected, may, for variety of reasons, desire not to continue as a Member. His reasons may be good or bad, but that is his decision and his right,” the Court also observed.
The MGP had argued that the resignations engineered by the BJP coupled with rewards of plump posts of corporations amounted to defections and were an attempt to bypass the anti-defection law.
“There is absolutely nothing on record to indicate that the concerned Members have, at any point of time, made any grievance as regards the acceptance of the resignations by the Speaker. Genuineness or voluntary nature of resignation has not been challenged by the concerned Members of the Legislative Assembly who did tender their resignation letters,” the High Court said questioning the MGP’s claim that the resignations were not genuine since they were not personally handed over.
COURT OBSERVATIONS
A legislator is the servant, but not the slave of the people
There is nothing in the Constitution which takes away right of an elected member to resign
Denial of such a right to an elected member would be destructive of principles of democracy
A person, after getting elected, may, for variety of reasons, desire not to continue as a Member... His reasons may be good or bad, but that is his decision and his right
Nothing on record to indicate concerned Members have, at any point of time, made any grievance as regards the acceptance of resignations by Speaker
Genuineness or voluntary nature of resignation has not been challenged by concerned Members of the Legislative Assembly who tendered their resignation letters
