Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has issued notices to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs, now affiliated with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), requesting their responses within seven days regarding petitions for their disqualification.
This action follows a Supreme Court petition filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, challenging delays in the Speaker’s decision on disqualification requests against the rebel MPs. The court sought responses from the MPs after Banerjee’s plea highlighted the prolonged proceedings.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana has directed the notices. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Speaker and the Secretary General of the House, confirmed to the bench that the Speaker had already taken steps by issuing notices under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi emphasized the need to conclude the proceedings within a specific timeframe, stating, “It is not a question of issuing notices; it is a question of concluding the proceedings within a time frame.”
The TMC alleges that the 20 MPs abandoned the party to join the NCPI, and Banerjee contends that their actions warrant disqualification under the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.
The petition names the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Secretary General of the House as principal respondents and includes the 20 MPs targeted for disqualification: Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Rachana Banerjee, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Partha Bhowmick, Arup Chakraborty, Adhikari Deepak Dev, Sayani Ghosh, Bapi Haldar, Md Abu Taher Khan, Kalipada Saren. Kherwal, Asit Kumar Mal, June Maliah, Mitali Bag, Khalilur Rahman, Mala Roy, Sharmila Sarkar and Yusuf Pathan.