TMC Rebel MPs: The troubles of 20 rebel MPs of Trinamool Congress (TMC) seem to be increasing. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has issued notice to all these MPs and sought their reply within seven days. This action has been taken in the case related to the petition filed by TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee and allegations of leaving the party membership and joining another party. The matter is related to the demand for cancellation of membership of MPs under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution i.e. anti-defection law.
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Actually, Abhishek Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court demanding cancellation of Lok Sabha membership of 20 MPs. He alleges that these MPs have left TMC and joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). TMC argues that anti-defection provisions of the Constitution are applicable against these MPs due to changing parties.
In this matter, on Tuesday the Supreme Court had also issued notice to 20 MPs and sought their answers. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant includes Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana. Abhishek Banerjee had demanded from the court that the Lok Sabha Speaker should be asked to take an early decision on the pending petitions for cancellation of membership.
During the hearing in the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Secretary General of the House. He told the court that the Speaker has already issued notices to the 20 MPs concerned on the petitions for cancellation of membership filed by TMC under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
On this the bench clarified that merely issuing the notice is not enough. Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the real question is when will the action in this case be completed within a stipulated time frame. After this, now in the notice issued by the Lok Sabha Speaker, the MPs have been asked to present their views within seven days.
Read :- Supreme Court issued notice to 20 rebel TMC MPs, the court asked the rebels to give their reply.
TMC alleges that these MPs have violated the anti-defection law by joining another political party after leaving the party. The petitions from the party demanding cancellation of membership were pending before the Lok Sabha Speaker. In this case, Abhishek Banerjee had filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding the alleged delay in action.
Now the answers of 20 MPs will be monitored in this entire matter. The MPs will have to clarify what their stand is on the allegations related to party switching and defection made against them. After this, the process can proceed before the Speaker to decide whether action for cancellation of membership can be taken against him under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution or not.
The 20 MPs who have been given notice include Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Shatabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Rachna Banerjee, Jagdish Chandra Burma Basunia, Partha Bhowmik, Arup Chakraborty, Adhikari Deepak Dev, Sayani Ghosh, Bapi Halder, Mohammad Abu Tahir Khan, Kalipada Saren Kherwal, Asit Kumar Mal, June Maliya, Mithali Bagh, Khalidur Rehman, Mala Roy, Sharmila Sarkar and Yusuf Pathan.
At present the matter is under consideration before the Lok Sabha Speaker and the further process will be decided after the reply of the MPs. Also, the hearing of this case is going on in the Supreme Court. In such a situation, activities are likely to intensify in the coming days at both political and legal levels regarding the membership of these 20 TMC MPs.