The Bombay High Court has directed the Goa government to inform it of its stand in view of the Supreme Court judgement making it mandatory to convene a session of the Legislative Assembly within six months of its last sitting.
The division bench of the court here asked the Goa government to come forward with its stand on February 27.
The direction came after the court took up the hearing of a petition filed by social activist Aires Rodrigues seeking directions to the Goa Government to comply with the mandate of Article 174 of the Constitution by either summoning a session or dissolving the Goa Legislative Assembly.
Drawing the court’s attention that the last session of the Goa Legislative Assembly was on August 31, 2016, Rodrigues pointed out that the Law department had in November last year moved a file for summoning the session and on January 6, 2017 had also opined that the Assembly needed to be dissolved.
He pleaded that the state government had just been sitting on the advice given by the Law department.
In the petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution, Rodrigues has stated that surprisingly there was no proposal by the government to convene a Session of the Legislative Assembly as required under the Constitution though the government was duty bound to ensure that the constitutional mandate is followed.
Rodrigues has pointed out that in terms of Article 174 of the Constitution it was the duty of the Governor to summon the House and that six months should not pass between its last sitting and the next sitting.
Submitting that there was an imminent danger of a constitutional breakdown and the continuance of an illegal and unconstitutional government, Rodrigues in his petition has stated that a government which defies the Constitution or does not follow the Constitutional mandate cannot continue in office even for a moment and requires to be dismissed.
Rodrigues has stated that the continuation of the Legislative Assembly without its meeting in compliance with Article 174 of the Constitution would not only be a travesty of the Constitutional mandate but also an absolute breakdown of the Constitutional scheme.
( Source – PTI )
