The court also dismissed the petition filed by former chief minister Pratapsinh Rane which stated that his removal by Governor Lt Gen (retd) J F R Jacob was motivated by malafide intentions.

However, the chief minister, who was supposed to obtain a vote of confidence by Wednesday, August 19, will not be able to move the motion on the floor of the Assembly as the court has directed that the status quo be maintained.

``No party should be in a position to gain undue advantage,'' the court ruled. Dr D'Souza now plans to approach the governor to seek an extension of the deadline.

The court also censured the Speaker for failing to provide copies of his order disqualifying the 10 break-away legislators to thepetitioners. On Monday, when the case came up for hearing, the speaker's counsel contended that the copies could not be served on the petitioners due to the weekend holidays. The speaker had pronounced his order late on Friday afternoon.

``The Speaker should have known that August 15 and 16 were holidays... speaker is aware of the legal wrangles and must have given at least a xerox copy of his order to the petitioners,'' the court said today. Following's today's ruling, Cardozo has indefinitely postponed the hearing on yet another disqualification petition filed against the 10 legislators by former minister for information Dominic Fernandes. The petition was admitted yesterday. The two petitions on which the Speaker had based his ruling were filed by Rane and his sports minister Dr Wilfred Mesquita.

As for the case filed by Rane challenging the dismissal of his government, the court ruled out that the Governor has judicial immunity. Rane's petition had made the Governor one of the respondents on theground that he had acted with malafide intentions in dismissing the government.

The court said the Governor was within his constitutional rights to dismiss a chief minister if he was convinced that the chief minister had lost his majority in the Assembly.

Today's stay on the speaker's disqualification ruling is the second major blow to Cardozo. On August 3, the court had held that his ex parte ad interim order was against the principles of natural justice and was passed in haste. The Speaker had by that order restrained Wilfred D'Souza and nine of his legislators from participating in the motion of confidence by the then chief minister Pratapsinh Rane, which was ordered by governor Jacob.

The hearing on the disqualification petitions will continue on Friday.