JUDGMENT/ORDER

M.S.KARNIK, J. - The judgment has been divided into the following Sec. to facilitate analysis:-

2. The petitioner, who is a former President of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee of Indian National Congress, has petitioned this Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction to the respondent no.1-Speaker Goa State Legislative Assembly to decide the disqualification petition filed by the petitioner against the respondent nos. 2 to 9, within time bound manner and more particularly within the period prescribed by law as laid down by the Supreme Court. The petitioner has placed heavy emphasis on the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Keisham Meghachandra Singh vs. Hon'ble Speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly & ors., 2020 SCC OnLine SC 55. to contend that the disqualification petition must be decided within a period of three months of its filing.

3. The petitioner challenges the deliberate inaction or indecision on the part of the respondent no.1, which according to him, clearly amounts to failure to exercise the jurisdiction conferred under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. FACTS :

4. Briefly stated, the facts are as follows : The petitioner is a former President of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC, for short) of Indian National Congress, (INC, for short). The elections of the Goa State Assembly were held in the month of February, 2022. Respondent Nos. 2 to 9 contested on the nomination of the INC. Respondent Nos. 2 to 9 stood elected as members of Goa Legislative Assembly from their respective constituencies. The result of the election was declared on 10/3/2022. As per the statistics revealed by the Election Commission of India, the position of elected representatives stood as below :

5. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, for short), being the single largest party, was invited to form the Government by the Hon'ble Governor, State of Goa. The Government was formed by BJP under the leadership of Shri Pramod Sawant with support from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP, for short) and Independent members.

6. On 14/9/2022, eight Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs, for short) of the INC, namely, respondent nos. 2 to 9 purportedly claiming to form two-third of the Legislative party of the INC, decided to merge with BJP and, accordingly, addressed a communication to that effect to the respondent no.1-Hon'ble Speaker. The respondent no.1 took note of the merger of the Legislative party in the Goa Legislative Assembly into BJP and allotted the eight MLAs (respondent nos. 2 to 9) seats in the assembly along with the members of the BJP. A notification to that effect came to be issued.

7. According to the petitioner, the respondent nos. 2 to 9 have incurred disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India; the BJP indulged in undemocratic and unconstitutional acts with the intent of holding on to power, which actions were contrary to all public and moral principles and against the mandate of the people of Goa; there is no valid merger in terms of paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution of India as there was no merger of the Original Political Party i.e. INC, as INC is duly recognized and continues to exist. It is the petitioner's case that there cannot be any valid claim of merger as contemplated under paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule as the two prerequisites for valid merger in terms of paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule, namely, the original political party should merge with another political party and secondly, 2/3rd of such Legislative party must agree to such merger, are not satis