Bengal Speaker seeks fresh application in 10 Trinamool MLAs' disqualification case

Kolkata: The West Bengal Assembly Speaker, Rathindra Bose, has sought a fresh application to correct some procedural errors in the previous petition due to which the decision on the disqualification of the ten rebel Trinamool Congress legislators has been kept pending.

The ten MLA group includes the leader of the rebel faction and expelled party legislator, Ritabrata Banerjee, who is currently the official Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly.

The decision was made by the Speaker after he conducted a crucial hearing on the matter on Thursday, the information on which surfaced on Friday morning. However, sources aware of the development said the Speaker had made it clear that his seeking a fresh application in the matter has nothing to do with the main issue, which is the disqualification of the 10 rebel legislators.

It is learnt that during the examination of the main application by veteran Trinamool Congress legislator, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, a leading face in the former Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee-led faction in Trinamool Congress, it was revealed that while the application was proper as per procedural norms, the documents attached to it were not examined and signed as per the procedural norms.

As per the West Bengal Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules, it is mandatory that the documents attached to the petition be signed on every page and examined in the same manner as the original application.

“The Speaker observed that procedures were not met as per norms. Each page of the attached documents should be duly examined and signed, which was not followed in this case. Hence, the Speaker sought a fresh application in the matter correcting the procedural errors,” a source aware of the developments at Thursday’s hearing said.

However, he added, the most important part of the order was that the Speaker had not taken any decision on the merits of the allegations of defection against the 10 rebel legislators. “This means that the Speaker had not expressed any opinion on whether the allegations of defection against these ‘rebel’ MLAs are true or false. Sovandeb Chattopadhyay has been given the freedom to file a fresh application in accordance with the law and to fill all the necessary forms,” the source added.

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