The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs on a plea filed by TMC General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, challenging the alleged delay by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in deciding disqualification petitions against the MPs under the anti-defection law.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana issued notice to the rebel MPs and sought their responses. However, the Court did not issue notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at this stage, despite the Speaker being the principal respondent in the plea.
The plea concerns 20 TMC MPs who broke away from the party and aligned themselves with the relatively unknown Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). According to reports, 19 of the MPs submitted a petition to the Speaker on June 14 seeking recognition of their merger with NCPI, while MP Rachana Banerjee submitted a similar communication the following day.
TMC has maintained that the MPs were elected on the party’s ticket and that their subsequent move to another political formation attracts the provisions of the anti-defection law. Banerjee had earlier filed separate disqualification petitions before the Speaker and repeatedly sought their expeditious disposal.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central Government, requested the Court not to issue notice to the Speaker: “I have some reservations about issuing notice to the Speaker.”
Justice Joymalya Bagchi indicated that the Court’s concern was not to pass an order against a constitutional authority but to ensure that the proceedings were dealt with within a reasonable time.
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“We are not to pass any order against a constitutional authority, but to ensure that it is done in a timely manner. That is the most important.”
The CJI thereafter indicated that notice could be issued to the other respondents. When Banerjee questioned why notice was not being issued to the Speaker, Justice Bagchi responded: “Are you interested in adjudication of the issue or notice?”
The issue arises amid an ongoing dispute over the status of the 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Separate seating arrangements had reportedly been allotted to the rebel MPs during the Monsoon Session even as the disqualification petitions remained pending before the Speaker.
Banerjee’s petition seeks an expeditious decision on the pending disqualification proceedings in accordance with the constitutional provisions governing defection.