Panaji, Apr 6 (IANS): The Speaker of the Goa legislative Assembly Rajesh Patnekar, on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court through the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, that he would pronounce his final order related to the disqualification of 10 BJP MLAs on April 20.

The Speaker's assurance came in the course of a hearing at the apex court before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, advocate Abhijit Gosavi, counsel for state Congress president Girish Chodankar said.

Earlier, Patnekar while hearing the petition filed by Chodankar had said that he would be pronouncing his order related to the disqualification of 10 MLAs on April 29.

"The Supreme Court was not happy with such a long date and told the Solicitor General to ask the Speaker to pass the order in one week's time. In response, Tushar Mehta said that the order would be passed by April 22. Again the CJI enquired whether it could be done earlier and whether it would be passed by April 20," Gosavi said.

"The Solicitor General then took instruction from the Speaker and informed the Court that the order would be passed on April 20," Gosavi added. The matter will be heard again before the SC on April 21.

Chodankar, as the party's state president, had filed a disqualification petition with the Goa Speaker's office in 2019 and argued the split by the 10 Congress MLAs and their subsequent merger into the BJP was illegal and violative of the provisions of Schedule 10 of the Indian Constitution. Chodankar has also accused Speaker Rajesh Patnekar of dragging on the case.

Patnekar is hearing another petition filed by a Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA, who has alleged that two other MLAs had attracted disqualification after they quit the regional party and joined the Congress on April 29. Patnekar is expected to pronounce the order in the matter on April 29.