Abhishek Banerjee urges LS Speaker to expeditiously dispose of disqualification petitions against 20 Trinamool MPs joining NCPI

Kolkata, July 27 (IANS) Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, requesting his intervention for expeditious disposal of disqualification petitions against 20 party Lok Sabha members who joined the National Citizens’ Party of India (NCPI) soon after the results for the West Bengal Assembly elections were announced.

In his letter, Abhishek Banerjee, also the nephew of the party supremo and former West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, contended that disqualification of these 20 MPS, who were elected in the 2024 Lok Sabha election as Trinamool Congress candidates, were sought under the provision of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, and Rule 6 of the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985.

In his letter, he stressed that the disqualifications of these 20 MPs were sought on the ground of defection.

“The petitions were accompanied by a detailed representation setting out the factual and legal basis for the disqualification of these members, who have aligned themselves with the so-called NCPI – an unrecognised political formation that has no representation or recognised status in either Parliament or any state legislature in the country. The representation demonstrated why their conduct squarely attracts the provisions of the Tenth Schedule and warrants their immediate disqualification from the Lok Sabha, according to the letter, a copy of which is available with IANS.

In the letter, the Trinamool General Secretary had also pointed out that although more than five weeks have elapsed since the filing of the disqualification petitions, there had been no hearing in the matter till date, nor has any notice been issued

“Such continued inaction is a matter of grave concern. It is well settled that the Constitutional jurisdiction vested in the Hon’ble Speaker under Paragraph 6 of the Tenth Schedule is required to be exercised within a reasonable time so as to preserve the efficacy and purpose of the anti-defection law. An unduly prolonged pendency of disqualification proceedings frustrates the constitutional objective of the Tenth Schedule, permits the continuance of an uncertainty that the Constitution seeks to avoid, and risks rendering the safeguards embodied in the anti-defection law ineffective,” he added.

In the letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Abhishek Banerjee had further argued that the urgency of the matter has been further accentuated by the decision of the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister to invite these 20 MPs as a separate group to the all-party meeting held on July 19.

“Without expressing any view on the merits of the pending proceedings, such developments underscore the imperative for an expeditious determination of the petitions, as continued uncertainty regarding the status of the Members concerned has the potential to undermine both the efficacy of the Tenth Schedule and the integrity of parliamentary proceedings,” he argued in his letter.

–IANS

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