The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee seeking the expeditious disposal of disqualification petitions pending before the Lok Sabha Speaker against 20 rebel party MPs who have aligned with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), and issued notices to the lawmakers.
A Bench of the apex court, headed by CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, listed the matter for hearing on August 28, after a mention by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Banerjee, sought urgent hearing of it.
The court, however, declined to issue notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office and the secretary-general of the House after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he was representing them.
Sibal said 20 MPs elected on TMC ticket have openly aligned with the NCPI, the new political outfit floated by former TMC leaders, and have been acting against the party whip. He said disqualification petitions filed before the Lok Sabha Speaker in June 2026 are pending, while the rebels continue to function as MPs.
"They have voluntarily given up membership; they are acting against our party; they have joined NCPI. Speaker must decide within a reasonable time. They cannot continue as MPs while acting against the party which got them elected," Sibal submitted.
Banerjee, TMC national general secretary and MP from Diamond Harbour, filed the writ petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, seeking direction to the Lok Sabha Speaker to decide disqualification petitions expeditiously under Para 2(1)(a) and 2(1)(b) of the Tenth Schedule.
The petition said that the respondents -- 20 MPs -- incurred disqualification under Para 2(1)(a) - voluntarily giving up membership, and Para 2(1)(b) - voting against whip.
The petitioner relied on SC judgments such as Kihoto Hollohan versus Zachillhu (1992) and Keisham Meghachandra Singh against Speaker of Manipur (2020) where the SC said the Speaker should decide within three months, and Subhash Desai versus Governor Maharashtra (2023).
The plea said the Speaker is a tribunal under the Tenth Schedule, and must decide within a reasonable time. The representation which was given to the Speaker on July 15 yielded no action, so far.
Thereby, the petitioner seeks a writ of mandamus directing the Speaker to decide disqualification petitions within four weeks.
The plea added that the Speaker has not taken any steps, not even issued notice, despite representation dated July 15. Delay defeats the purpose of the Tenth Schedule and allows defectors to continue, the plea said.
Banerjee has sought directions to the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions in accordance with the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution. He had earlier filed separate petitions against the 20 MPs and subsequently urged the Speaker to expedite their disposal.
The TMC leader also met Birla on August 12 over the issue, after sending a written reminder on July 27.
The dispute follows a rebellion within the TMC parliamentary party after 20 of its Lok Sabha MPs announced that they had joined or merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a Tripura-based political outfit, and sought separate recognition in Parliament.
The rebel MPs have since been treated as an NCPI group in Parliament and have participated in NDA parliamentary activities.
The TMC has maintained that the MPs were elected on its symbol and that their decision to align with another political formation amounts to voluntarily giving up membership of the party, attracting disqualification under the anti-defection law. The rebel camp, however, has maintained that its move constitutes a valid merger.
The Supreme Court is also hearing a similar plea filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) challenging the Speaker's approval of the merger of its six MPs with the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
(With inputs from PTI)
