New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear a plea questioning the Lok Sabha Speaker’s delay in deciding on the disqualification demand of 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who have joined the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The petition, filed by TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, has sought an expeditious decision on the matter by Speaker Om Birla, PTI reported.
The 20 rebel MPs split from the TMC in June, a month after Mamata Banerjee’s party was voted out of power by the BJP in West Bengal. Days later, they expressed the desire to merge with the nondescript NCPI, vowing to support the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
The MPs then submitted a petition to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking recognition of their merger with NCPI. More than two months have passed, but the merger has not yet been approved.
Abhishek had also submitted separate petitions against the 20 MPs, urging the Speaker to dispose of them urgently. He then met with Birla on August 12 over the issue after sending a written reminder on July 27.
In his petition to the top court, Abhishek has 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 Supreme Court website, the plea has been listed for hearing on August 25 by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
