Court setback for Mamata Banerjee, Ritabrata Banerjee to stay on as LoP for now
Court setback for Mamata Banerjee, Ritabrata Banerjee to stay on as LoP for now
M.U.H
18/06/20266
In a setback to Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to pass any interim stay on the Speaker's decision of accepting rebel TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly.
For now, Ritabrata Banerjee will continue as the Leader of the Opposition, and Speaker Rathin Basu's decision remains in force as the court refused to interfere with the Speaker's decision.
Justice Krishna Rao said that the next hearing in the matter will be held on July 28. He directed all parties to file their affidavits before the next date of hearing.
"This court did not find any prima facie case and balance of convenience in the affairs of the petitioner for grant of interim order, the interim order is refused," read the order.
The petitioner, TMC MLA and Mamata Banerjee loyalist Shovandeb Chattopadhyay, had approached the Calcutta High Court seeking an interim stay on the Speaker's decision.
On Wednesday, the court asked Additional Advocate General Billwadal Bhattacharya, appearing for the Speaker, why the Speaker had kept pending a letter received on May 9 naming Shovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition.
The court noted that the Speaker had taken no action on that representation but had acted on another letter received from the rebel camp on June 3, declaring Ritabrata Banerjee as the opposition leader.
The court further questioned why there was no explanation from the Speaker as to why the first representation was ignored while the second was accepted almost immediately.
Following the Trinamool Congress's rout in the Assembly elections, a split emerged within its legislative party. Most of the party's MLAs turned "rebels." The party leadership had proposed senior leader Shovandeb Chattopadhyay as the leader of the legislative party. However, defying the party's decision, Ritabrata secured the support of 58 MLAs and became the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.
Earlier, on June 1, the Trinamool leadership had decided to expel Ritabrata from the party on charges of "anti-party activities."
Several TMC MLAs alleged that their signatures had been forged on the document submitted to the Speaker endorsing Shovandeb Chattopadhyay as the Leader of the Opposition, triggering a major controversy that now forms the centre of a CID probe involving Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.
