The Supreme Court was informed that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has already issued notices to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs on petitions seeking their disqualification for allegedly defecting from the party.
The disclosure was made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta during the hearing of a plea filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who had approached the Supreme Court alleging delay in deciding the disqualification petitions.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was initially considering whether notice should be issued to the Speaker. However, Mehta requested the Court not to issue notice to the constitutional authority.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta expressed reservations regarding the issuance of a notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker. In response, Justice Joymalya Bagchi clarified that the Court’s objective was not to issue an order against a constitutional authority, but rather to ensure the disqualification petitions are adjudicated in a timely manner.
The Chief Justice added that there were other respondents before the Court.
Justice Bagchi asked, questioning whether Banerjee prioritized procedure over adjudication when he challenged the decision not to serve notice to the Speaker.
The Solicitor General thereafter informed the Court that the Speaker had already taken cognisance of the TMC’s disqualification pleas and issued notices to all 20 MPs.
The Supreme Court then issued notice to the rebel MPs and sought their responses, while refraining from issuing notice to Speaker Om Birla at this stage.
The 20 MPs had allegedly defected from the TMC and joined the relatively unknown Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) in June this year after rebelling against the party leadership headed by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee.
The alleged defections took place shortly after the TMC’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections, amid reports of internal discontent within the party.
Banerjee’s plea before the Supreme Court seeks timely adjudication of the disqualification petitions filed against the MPs under the anti-defection law.
The matter will now proceed after the rebel MPs file their responses before the Court.
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