New Delhi: The Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued notices to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs and asked them to reply within seven days to disqualification petitions filed by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee.
The notices were issued on August 25. They included copies of Banerjee’s petitions, which were filed on June 18 against the MPs after they joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The petitions were filed under Rule 6 of the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985.
The Lok Sabha Secretariat said in its notice: “You are requested to kindly furnish your comments on the petition in terms of rule 7(3) of the same rule within seven days of the receipt of this letter for consideration of the Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha.”
The rule deals with the disqualification of MPs who have defected from their political party.
Banerjee had filed separate affidavits against all 20 MPs in June. He sought their disqualification under the anti-defection law mentioned in the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Supreme Court Hearing
The notices came a day after the Supreme Court sought a response from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Banerjee’s plea for an early decision on the disqualification petitions.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said the issue was not only whether notices had been sent to the MPs. The court also wanted to know when the disqualification proceedings would be completed.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, said there was no need to issue a separate notice to Birla as he was representing him. He also informed the court that notices had already been sent to all 20 MPs.
The rebel MPs were given separate seats in the Lok Sabha before the monsoon session. However, they are still officially considered TMC members because their request to merge with the NCPI is still being examined.
