New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs to file their response with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla within four
weeks. The top court, however, declined to set a specific deadline for the Lok Sabha Speaker to decide disqualification petitions against 20 rebel TMC parliamentarians. The matter is related to a plea filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction challenging the delay in deciding disqualification petitions against the 20 MPs, who had claimed to have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI). The Supreme Court had earlier sought responses from the rebel MPs on the plea. During Wednesday’s hearing, the bench said the constitutional authority occupying the Speaker’s office needed to be reminded of the need for expeditious action. Justice Joymalya Bagchi referred to earlier Supreme Court orders and judgments where a three-month period had been prescribed for deciding similar disqualification proceedings. Justice Bagchi told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker’s office, “The constitutional authority (Speaker) needs to be reminded of need for expeditious action. Earlier orders and judgments say the decision must be taken within 3 months.” Mehta, however, objected to the Court prescribing a timeline for another constitutional authority. “Should one constitutional authority need to remind another constitutional authority? It’s like holding the other constitutional authority to ransom,” the Solicitor General said. Justice Bagchi clarified that the Court was referring to the timeline prescribed in its earlier orders and judgments and was seeking an indication of when the proceedings could be concluded. “We are only saying that some orders be passed based on earlier timeline we had prescribed it in our earlier orders and judgments ... we had said three months ... we expect that the constitutional authority must perform his role as expeditiously as possible. Can you give us a tentative ... proposed timeline?” Justice Bagchi asked. Mehta said he could not immediately comment on when the Speaker would decide the matter. “I can’t comment at this moment as to by when the Lok Sabha Speaker proposes to decide,” he stated. The bench then asked the Solicitor General to return with a timeline. “Please come back and give us a timeline,” the bench said. Mehta reiterated his objection to the Court fixing a schedule for the Speaker. “I am of the view that one constitutional authority cannot set a timeline for other. SC monitoring cannot be justified ... this Court cannot fix a schedule for the Speaker,” he said. The Supreme Court ultimately refrained from setting a specific deadline for the Speaker, asking instead that the matter be dealt with within a reasonable period. The Court also directed the 20 rebel MPs to submit their responses to the Speaker within four weeks. The dispute arose after 20 of the TMC’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs announced that they had joined NCPI. The rebel MPs have claimed that they have the numbers required under the Tenth Schedule to invoke the merger exception. They have also extended support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The TMC subsequently filed separate disqualification petitions against the 20 MPs before the Lok Sabha Speaker. With no decision forthcoming, the party approached the Supreme Court, questioning the delay and seeking judicial intervention.
