New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on a petition filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary and parliamentarian Abhishek Banerjee seeking an expeditious decision on disqualification petitions against 20 TMC MPs who joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, made it clear that the issue before it was not merely whether notices had been issued to the MPs but whether the disqualification proceedings would be completed. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, told the bench that there was no need to issue notice to Birla as he was appearing for him and could inform the court that notices had already been issued to the 20 MPs. "It is not a question of issuance of notices but completion of proceedings," the bench said. It added: "We are not inclined to issue notices to a constitutional authority without giving them an opportunity. But we want a response from the Speaker. For now, we will issue notices only to the other respondents." Senior advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, appearing for Banerjee, asked why notice could not also be issued to the Speaker. "Mr Bandopadhyay, you want resolution of the matter or an adjudication. We have already said we want a response from the Speaker," the bench said. The court subsequently ordered issuance of notice to all 20 MPs against whom Banerjee has sought disqualification. Banerjee has invoked Article 32 of the Constitution to challenge the alleged delay in deciding his petitions seeking disqualification of the 20 rebel MPs. The TMC has maintained that the MPs were elected on its symbol and that their subsequent decision to align with the NCPI attracts the anti-defection provisions under the Tenth Schedule. Banerjee's plea invokes the anti-defection provisions under the Tenth Schedule, contending that the 20 MPs have incurred disqualification by voluntarily giving up their membership of the TMC after being elected on its ticket. It seeks judicial intervention over the alleged delay by the Speaker in deciding the disqualification petition. The MPs named in the petition are Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Rachana Banerjee, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Partha Bhowmick, Arup Chakraborty, Adhikari Deepak Dev, Sayani Ghosh, Bapi Haldar, Md Abu Taher Khan, Kalipada Saren Kherwal, Asit Kumar Mal, June Maliah, Mitali Bag, Khalilur Rahaman, Mala Roy, Sharmila Sarkar and Yusuf Pathan. The 20 MPs had met Birla in June seeking recognition of their merger with NCPI. Banerjee subsequently met the Speaker and sought their disqualification. The Speaker neither recognised the proposed merger nor disqualified the MPs before the Monsoon Session. The development comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's ongoing adjudication of a dispute concerning the recognition of the Eknath Shinde faction as the Shiv Sena, in which questions relating to the Speaker's role under the Tenth Schedule have also arisen....