SC Issues Notice To 20 Rebel TMC MPs On Abhishek Banerjee’s Petition Challenging Disqualification Delay

The Supreme Court issued notice on a petition filed by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, seeking directions to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to decide on pleas seeking the disqualification of 20 rebel TMC MPs. Banerjee has urged the Supreme Court to direct Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to expeditiously decide the disqualification petitions pending before him. Supreme Court asked the Solicitor General to obtain instructions from the Speaker on the matter.

The 20 TMC rebel MPs are identified as 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 Rahaman, Mala Roy, Sharmila Sarkar and Pathan Yusuf.

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TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, on Monday, filed a plea before the apex court, against the delay in deciding on the disqualification of 20 rebel MPs, who have aligned themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), soon after the power shift during the Assembly Elections.

The TMC said that matter involves the interpretation of the anti-defection provisions under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The Mamata Banerjee-led party has disputed the rebel MPs’ claim that their move to NCPI qualifies for protection under the merger exception in the anti-defection law.

What Does The Law Say?

As per the tenth schedule, disqualification on grounds of defection does not apply in cases where an original political party merges with another political party and at least two-thirds of the members of its legislature party have agreed to the merger. However, the TMC asserted that the provision cannot be invoked merely because two-thirds of the legislature party has decided to join another political party. Its case is that the merger must involve the original political party, and that a splinter group of MPs cannot independently effect such a merger.

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TheTrinamool Congress has referred to the top court’s 2023 judgment in the Maharashtra political crisis involving the Shiv Sena, claming that the court had distinguished between the original political party and its legislative wing. The TMC has cited the judgment to contend that the authority to decide the political party’s position lies with the original political party and not merely with its legislature party.