NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued formal notice to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha members following a petition filed by party General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee seeking a time-bound decision from Speaker Om Birla on pending disqualification petitions.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, declined to issue notices directly to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office and the Lok Sabha Secretary General after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta entered an appearance on their behalf. Mehta informed the bench that the Speaker had already initiated proceedings by issuing show-cause notices to the 20 parliamentarians under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Addressing concerns surrounding the timing of the proceedings, the bench emphasized the necessity of a prompt resolution while respecting constitutional boundaries, noting that the primary objective is ensuring the disqualification process concludes within a reasonable timeframe rather than passing coercive directions against a constitutional office. When senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing the TMC, questioned why formal notice was not issued to the Speaker, the court reiterated that its focus remains on the timely adjudication of the substantive constitutional issue.
The legal dispute arises from the decision of 20 out of 29 TMC Lok Sabha MPs to break away and claim a merger with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a Tripura-based political entity, subsequently seeking separate status in the House and engaging with the National Democratic Alliance parliamentary bloc. The TMC leadership contends that because the lawmakers were elected on its party ticket, their shift constitutes voluntarily giving up party membership under anti-defection provisions. Conversely, the breakaway faction maintains that the collective transition meets the legal requirements for a legitimate merger exempted under the Tenth Schedule.
The apex court is concurrently considering a related petition by the Shiv Sena (UBT) challenging the Lok Sabha Speaker’s recognition of a merger involving six of its lawmakers with the Eknath Shinde-led faction. These matters follow a broader constitutional petition moved by senior counsel and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal seeking a comprehensive reinterpretation of the Tenth Schedule’s merger exemptions amid recent high-profile legislative defections.
