The Calcutta High Court on Thursday declined to grant any interim stay on the West Bengal Assembly Speaker’s decision to recognise rebel Trinamool Congress MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition. The court passed the order in a petition filed by senior TMC leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who challenged the Speaker’s move to ignore the party’s official choice for the post.
Justice Krishna Rao heard the matter and posted it for further hearing after three weeks. The court directed all parties to file their affidavits in the meantime. During the hearing, the judge had raised several questions about the Speaker’s process, particularly why one proposal was kept pending while another was accepted quickly.
The Court said it did not find any prima facie case in favour of the petitioner. “The interim order is refused,” the Bench said.
The dispute began after the recent Assembly elections in which the BJP emerged as the single largest party. The TMC, with 80 seats, became the main opposition. The party leadership, led by Mamata Banerjee, had nominated Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition on 6th May and informed the Speaker. The speaker then asked for the resolution and the minutes of the meeting from the legislative party. As no such resolution was formally adopted, the party organised another meeting on 19th May, and the resolution and attendance sheet were submitted to the speaker.
However, in the meantime, a group of rebel MLAs claimed majority support within the legislative party and proposed Ritabrata Banerjee for the post. The rebel group had claimed support of 60 out of 80 MLAs, and later claimed that the number rose to around 65.
The Speaker, Rathindra Bose, accepted the rebels’ claim after they submitted signatures of a large number of MLAs. The Speaker’s decision was based on the numerical strength in the House rather than the political party’s directive. The rebels also claimed that their signatures were forged on a resolution electing Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as the leader of the legislative party. A probe has already been launched into this allegation.
TMC leaders argued that the Speaker should follow the decision of the political party and not the legislature party. They contended that only the party high command could decide who represents its ideology as Leader of Opposition. Senior advocates appearing for the petitioners added that Ritabrata Banerjee had been expelled from the party, raising questions about his eligibility.
On the other hand, the rebels and the Speaker’s side maintained that the Leader of Opposition’s role is linked to the functioning of the Assembly. They argued that the Speaker rightly assessed the majority support among opposition legislators. The rebels also clarified that this was an internal matter within the TMC and not a formal split under anti-defection laws.
With no interim relief granted, Ritabrata Banerjee will continue to function as Leader of Opposition during the ongoing budget session of the West Bengal Assembly. The final decision on the petition will come after detailed hearings. This development marks a significant setback for the TMC leadership amid internal rebellion following the party’s electoral defeat.
