The Supreme Court on Thursday referred the dispute over the disqualification of 10 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLAs, who left the party following the Assembly elections and formed a separate faction called ‘Democratic Trinamool’, to the Calcutta High Court. The apex court dismissed the petition currently before it, observing that the matter should, at this stage, be brought to the attention of the Chief Justice of the High Court.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana said it would be appropriate for the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to constitute a division bench to hear and resolve the matter. The court also granted petitioner Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay the liberty to file a separate petition before the High Court.

The case concerns 10 MLAs, including Ritabrata Banerjee, Sandipan Saha and Firhad Hakim, who allegedly defected from the mainstream TMC and joined the breakaway ‘Democratic Trinamool’ faction.

Under the anti-defection framework, the Assembly Speaker was expected to decide on the disqualification petitions within a reasonable period, ideally three months. However, no decision has been taken so far. During Thursday’s hearing, the petitioner’s counsel informed the Supreme Court that the disqualification application had been submitted on July 8, and nearly five months had elapsed since then.

Responding to the submission, the bench observed, “We understand, but it is not possible to conduct a hearing so urgently.”

Speaker had rejected earlier petition on procedural grounds

On October 22, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, an MLA belonging to the mainstream TMC, approached the Supreme Court challenging the Speaker’s handling of the disqualification proceedings against the 10 MLAs. The petition questioned the failure to take a decision on their alleged defection.

However, the Speaker, Rathindra Basu, had subsequently rejected Sobhandeb’s application, citing procedural irregularities. He pointed out that the petition did not comply with the prescribed requirements, including the proper signing of accompanying documents. The Speaker also indicated that a fresh application could be submitted after rectifying the procedural defects.

Sobhandeb subsequently challenged the Speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court.

SC’s earlier ruling on Speaker’s powers

The latest development comes against the backdrop of a 2021 Supreme Court ruling, which held that the Speaker has the constitutional authority to decide matters relating to the anti-defection law and the disqualification of legislators.

The apex court had also observed that Speakers should be given a reasonable period to decide such petitions, preferably within three months. In an earlier hearing concerning the disqualification of Ritabrata Banerjee and the other MLAs, the Supreme Court had declined to intervene and had not prescribed any fresh deadline for the Speaker.

With the latest order, the dispute will now move to the Calcutta High Court, where a division bench is expected to take up the matter following the Chief Justice’s directions.

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