Supreme Court tells Trinamool faction leader to approach High Court over rebel MLA disqualification

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea seeking an order for the West Bengal Assembly Speaker to quickly decide disqualification cases against ten rebel MLAs. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi told petitioner Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, a leader of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction of the Trinamool Congress, to approach the Calcutta High Court instead.

High Court Hearing

The judges asked the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to place the matter before a Division Bench for an urgent hearing and a quick decision. The petitioner's counsel told the court that disqualification petitions were filed on July 8 against ten rebel MLAs—Ritabrata Banerjee, Firhad Hakim, Arup Roy, Sandipan Saha, Akhruzzaman Ansari, Shiuli Saha, Sabina Yasmin, Biplab Mitra, Javed Khan, and Rathin Ghosh—following their alleged defection after assembly elections. Five months have passed without a decision from the Speaker. The Bench noted that litigants cannot jump the queue and that the court cannot take up every petition simply because orders were passed in another case, while adding that the High Court is on break till November 11.

Context

Disqualification cases against lawmakers in India are decided by the Speaker of the house under anti-defection rules, but courts can intervene if decisions are delayed beyond a reasonable time. The political crisis in West Bengal unfolded after the Trinamool Congress lost assembly elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party, leading to a split in the party and a dispute over opposition leadership in the assembly.