HC fines Congmen, dismisses
petition
Sandesh Prabhudesai
1 August 2002
Goa's three leading Congress legislators
have been fined by the high court for wasting time of
the court for their own political gains, while dismissing
their pleas challenging dissolution of the state Assembly
on 27 February.
A new Assembly in the state has already
been constituted after holding fresh
elections in June, with the BJP once again holding reins
of power.
The petitions challenging the dissolution
were referred to the third judge after there was a split
judgement delivered by the
division bench on 8 May, while fresh polls were already
notified on 5 May.
Justice V C Daga of the Mumbai high
court, deciding upon the two separate petitions, declined
to revive the old Assembly and take away the vested
rights of the newly elected members. On the contrary,
he preferred to dismiss the petitions with heavy cost.
Former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro,
former minister Francisco Silveira and former Congress
spokesman Jitendra Deshprabhu have been now told to
pay Rs 25,000 each.
According to Justice Daga, all the
three petitioners - elected once again to the new Assembly
- should not have pursued the matter but help the court
by gracefully withdrawing petitions when they had participated
in the fresh election process.
"It appears that the petitioners proceeded
only to gain political mileage. The practice of using
the judicial fora or courts for political benefits needs
to be arrested. The petitions thus need to dismissed
with heavy cost", stated the judgement.
The petitions were also dismissed on
the ground that it is no longer a live issue but has
become academic due to fresh polls. Secondly, as the
fresh elections were also not challenged, the judge
said it would be impermissible to revive the dissolved
Assembly.
According to Justice Daga, the petitions
also did not challenge the constitutional validity of
the governor's decision to dissolve
the Assembly but whether it was a hasty decision. It
was a cabinet decision to recommend dissolution and
the governor has a right to dissolve the Assembly accordingly,
he added.
Your
Comments Please
