A legal notice has been served today on the Chief Secretary giving the Goa Government 24 hours to either summon the required session of the Goa Legislative Assembly or to dissolve it.
It is surprising that there is no proposal by the Government to convene a Session of the Legislative Assembly as required under the Constitution of India. If the government fails to ensure that the constitutional mandate is followed the Bombay High Court at Goa will be moved for appropriate orders and directions. In terms of Article 174 of the Constitution it is the duty of the Governor to summon the House and six months should not intervene between its last sitting and the next sitting. The Legislative Assembly has to be convened and meet within six months of its last sitting. Since the last sitting was on August 31st 2016, the Governor is duty bound to summon the House on or before 3rd March 2017. The Supreme Court has held that Article 174 is mandatory and only when the State Assembly is dissolved or kept under suspended animation in exercise of power under Article 356 of the Constitution, the mandate of Section 174 is not mandatory. 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. If the Chief Minister refuses to recommend the convening of the Assembly Session to meet the mandate of Article 174 then in exercise of powers under Article 174 (2) (b) of the Constitution, the Governor has powers to dissolve the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Secretary as the Principal Functionary of the State Executive is duty bound to bring these facts to the notice of the Governor and apprise her of the situation and urge the Governor to take appropriate steps either for convening of the House or for its dissolution failing which the Government will have no right to continue in office if it fails to fulfil the mandate of Article 174 (1) of the Constitution. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: airesrodrigu...@gmail.com Or airesrodrig...@yahoo.com You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com