TMC gears up to move SC within 10 days to seek disqualification of 20 rebel MPs

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday

NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress is preparing to move the Supreme Court against the 20 rebel Lok Sabha MPs who merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. A disqualification petition will be filed within 10 days, TMC sources said.TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday to reiterate his demand for a speedy decision on the disqualification petitions submitted by TMC in June. Later addressing the media, Banerjee had expressed concern over the lack of any action on the matter so far and said that he did not receive any satisfactory response.“If the Speaker does not decide on these petitions within the period required by law and applicable judicial directions, I will be compelled to approach the Supreme Court and seek its intervention,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee had earlier met Birla on July 27 in Parliament urging him to expedite his decision on pending petitions seeking disqualification of the 20 MPs, elected on TMC symbol, who have aligned with NCPI.Banerjee, a Lok Sabha MP, had also sought revocation of changes made to the seating arrangements of his party’s MPs to allow the rebel members to sit separately. He had submitted separate letters to the speaker on each of his concerns.

In one of the two letters, Banerjee stated, “More than five weeks have elapsed since filing of the petitions. To date, no notices have been issued, no hearings have been scheduled, and no procedural directions appear to have been passed. Such continued action is a matter of grave concern.” On June 19, a TMC delegation led by Banerjee had submitted the 20 disqualification petitions to Birla.He had said the urgency of the matter has been further accentuated by the decision of parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju to invite the members against whom the disqualification petitions are pending, as a separate group, to the all-party meeting held on July 19. “Such developments underscore the imperative for an expeditious determination of the petitions,” he stated to emphasise his point.