Kolkata, Nov. 5 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday reportedly asked the Calcutta High Court to urgently hear a petition challenging the West Bengal Assembly Speaker's delay in deciding disqualification pleas against 10 rebel Trinamool MLAs.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi disposed of a fresh petition by TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, requesting the High Court Chief Justice to place the matter before a division bench for expeditious disposal.
The disqualification petitions were filed on July 8 against Ritabrata Banerjee, Firhad Hakim, Arup Roy, Sandipan Saha, Akhruzzaman Ansari, Shiuli Saha, Sabina Yasmin, Biplab Mitra, Javed Khan and Rathin Ghosh for allegedly defecting after contesting the Assembly elections on TMC tickets.
Chattopadhyay's counsel told the court that nearly five months had passed without a decision, despite the timelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the 2021 Kesham Meghachandra Singh case.
Justice Bagchi observed that the petitioner could not bypass the High Court, remarking, "You cannot litigate to jump the queue."
The Bench also declined to entertain the plea merely because the High Court was on vacation until November 12.
In an earlier petition on the same issue, the Supreme Court had expressed confidence that the Speaker would adhere to the timelines prescribed in its previous judgments.
The disqualification dispute runs parallel to a separate battle over the Leader of Opposition's post. Chattopadhyay had challenged the Speaker's decision to recognise rebel MLA Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay for the post, with the Calcutta High Court recently delivering a split verdict.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.