Goa Congress Defection: Supreme Court Directs to High Court

The Supreme Court declined a plea from Congress challenging the Goa assembly speaker's decision to reject a disqualification petition against eight MLAs who defected to BJP. The bench suggested approaching the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court for redress. The plea's delays rendered it moot as assembly terms expired.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea from Congress challenging a decision of the Goa assembly speaker that rejected a disqualification petition against eight MLAs who defected to the ruling BJP in 2022.

A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar advised petitioner Girish Chodankar to file a writ petition with the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, asserting "it will not become the court of first appeal."

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi argued the speaker took excessively long to decide the plea, rendering it moot as assembly terms expired. The speaker, Ramesh Tawadkar, dismissed the plea, citing a resolution for the merger of the Congress MLAs with BJP.

(With inputs from agencies.)