TMC moves Supreme Court over delay in disqualification decision on 20 rebel MPs; hearing on August 25

The Trinamool Congress on Monday approached the Supreme 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).

TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in a plea before the top court, has sought an expeditious decision on the same by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, news agency PTI reported.

According to the Supreme Court website, the plea has been listed for a hearing on August 25 by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.

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The 20 rebel MPs, who had split from the TMC, want to merge with the nondescript Nationalist Citizens Party of India, which supports the National Democratic Alliance. 19 of these MPs had on June 14 submitted a petition to Lok Sabha Speaker Birla, seeking recognition of their merger with NCPI. The next day, MP Rachana Banerjee submitted a similar letter. The merger has not yet been approved.

TMC seeks directions for Speaker to decide on disqualification of rebel MPs

Abhishek has, in his plea, challenged the alleged delay in deciding the disqualification proceedings initiated against the MPs. He has sought directions for the Lok Sabha Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions in accordance with the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution, according to the PTI report.

The TMC general secretary had earlier submitted separate petitions against the 20 MPs and urged the Speaker to dispose of them urgently. Abhishek had also met with Birla on August 12 over the issue after sending a written reminder on July 27.

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The 20 rebel MPs of TMC have sought recognition of their merger with the Tripura-based NCPI. They have since been treated as an NCPI group in the Parliament and participated in NDA parliamentary activities.

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

TMC rebels still awaiting status

TMC rebel leaders, both in West Bengal Assembly and Parliament, are waiting for a decision on their official status. In the Assembly, the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction of 62 legislators have split from the party. However, there is still no official clarity on the timeline of resolution of their issues, official said, according to an earlier HT report.

While Abhishek has submitted a plea before the SC, officials said that the process of recognition of NCPI might be lengthy. They said it might depend on some external factors -- including a pending case in the Supreme Court filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray against the Election Commission’s decision to recognise the Eknath Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena. The Sena case is reportedly being watched closely by the poll body, which has not yet decided if the Ritabrata-led faction in Bengal Assembly is the real TMC.