Veteran Trinamool Congress leader Sovandeb Chattopadhyay on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of 10 rebel MLAs led by Ritabrata Banerjee, accusing West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose of failing to decide on the matter.
The petition names the 10 MLAs as respondents, including Leader of the Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee and former Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor Firhad Hakim. The case is likely to be taken up for hearing next week.
This marks Chattopadhyay’s second approach to the apex court over the issue. In September, he had sought the disqualification of the 10 legislators. During a hearing on September 28, the Supreme Court said any disqualification application submitted to the West Bengal Assembly Speaker should be decided within three months, expressing hope that the deadline would be followed.
The original application was filed before the Speaker on July 8 by the Mamata Banerjee-led faction, setting October 8 as the three-month deadline. However, with no decision announced so far, Chattopadhyay has returned to the Supreme Court.
Besides Ritabrata Banerjee and Firhad Hakim, the MLAs facing disqualification proceedings are Sandipan Saha, Arup Roy, Shiuli Saha, Akhtaruzzaman, Sabina Yasmin, Rathin Ghosh, Biplob Mitra and Javed Ahmed Khan. The Principal Secretary of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly has also been named as a party in the case.
Chattopadhyay is seeking the legislators’ disqualification under the anti-defection law.
