Abhishek Banerjee seeks SC direction on disqualification of 20 TMC MPs

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court seeking an expeditious decision by Speaker Om Birla on petitions seeking disqualification of 20 rebel party MPs who have aligned themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

According to the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana has listed the plea of Banerjee for hearing on August 25.

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The top court is also seized of a similar plea filed by the Shiv Sena (UBT) challenging the speaker's approval to the merger of its six MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe is hearing that petition.

Banerjee, in his plea, challenged the alleged delay in deciding the disqualification proceedings initiated against the MPs.

The TMC leader has sought directions for the speaker to decide the disqualification petitions in accordance with the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution. He had earlier submitted separate petitions against the 20 MPs and subsequently urged the speaker to expedite their disposal.

According to reports, he also met Birla on August 12 over the issue after sending a written reminder on July 27.

The dispute follows a rebellion within the TMC parliamentary party after 20 of its Lok Sabha MPs announced that they had joined or merged with the NCPI, a Tripura-based political outfit, and sought separate recognition in the House.

The rebel MPs have subsequently been treated as an NCPI group in Parliament and have participated in NDA parliamentary activities.

The TMC has maintained that the MPs were elected on its symbol and that their decision to align with another political formation amounts to voluntarily giving up membership of the party, attracting disqualification under the anti-defection law.

The rebel camp, however, has maintained that its move constitutes a valid merger.

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The petition names the Lok Sabha speaker and the secretary general as respondents, besides the 20 MPs against whom the disqualification proceedings have been sought.

The MPs named in the petition are 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 Yusuf Pathan.