The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it expected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to take an "expeditious" decision on a plea seeking the disqualification of 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs who have joined the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said it was aware that it could not direct the Lok Sabha Speaker, "but we just want to remind him about expeditious resolution".
The plea was filed by Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC MP from the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal.
As the hearing commenced, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing the TMC leader, submitted that the rebel parliamentarians had not filed their responses despite notices being issued to them and had sought a further extension.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, told the apex court that the Speaker had already issued notices on the disqualification petitions. "The Speaker is expected to know what he has to do. He knows the seriousness of the matter," he said.
At this juncture, the CJI remarked, "We will expect anything which is required to be decided expeditiously, the very nature of the lis... demands early adjudication. We just want to remind him about expeditious resolution."
Mehta then responded, "I want to ask a question to myself. Can a constitutional functionary remind another constitutional functionary of his constitutional duty?" He said the court should not prescribe a time limit for the Speaker in the present circumstances.
Justice Bagchi said, "We just remind the authority of ensuring expeditious resolution, keeping in mind the paramount importance of 10th Schedule. We may not give imperative directions, but keeping in mind the decision in the Keisham Meghachandra Singh case... have resolution of this issue expeditiously."
In Keisham Meghachandra Singh vs Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly (2020), the Supreme Court ruled that the Speaker must decide defection cases within a reasonable time, preferably within three months.
Justice Bagchi asked Mehta to submit a timeline for the Speaker's decision.
Mehta, however, said he could not give any commitment.
"I will not make any commitment. I will explore... This court's monitoring may not be justified. I would urge not to fix speaker's schedule," he said.
The top court recorded the submission of the rebel MPs that they would file their replies within four weeks and adjourned the matter. The court had earlier agreed to hear Banerjee's plea and issued notice to the 20 MPs.
The TMC leader, in his plea, challenged the alleged delay in deciding the disqualification proceedings initiated against the MPs.
He has sought directions for the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions in accordance with the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution. He had earlier submitted separate petitions against the rebel MPs and subsequently urged the Speaker to expedite their disposal.
According to reports, he also met Speaker 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 NCPI, a Tripura-based political outfit, and sought separate recognition in the House.
The rebel MPs have subsequently 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 petition names the Lok Sabha Speaker and the secretary general as respondents, besides the 20 MPs against whom the disqualification proceedings have been sought.
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.
(With inputs from PTI)
