Supreme Court notice on TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee plea for time-bound decision on disqualification of 20 rebel MPs

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) agreed to hear a plea filed by Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee contending that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was delaying disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law against 20 rebel party MPs who have aligned themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued notice to the Secretary General, Lok Sabha and the MPs in question. Mr. Banerjee has sought a time-bound decision on disqualification of 20 rebel MPs

In fact, the Bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, had initially issued notice to the Speaker, who is arraigned as the first respondent in the petition.

However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, said there was no need to issue notice to the Speaker, who is a Constitutional authority.

Justice Bagchi indicated that the Speaker was a tribunal while hearing petitions seeking disqualification under the Tenth Schedule. The petition concerned completion of disqualification proceedings within reasonable time. Moreover, the Speaker’s status as a Constitutional authority should be respected by the issuance of formal notice by the court.

Mr. Mehta, however, prevailed, saying he was personally present in the court room to represent the Speaker.

Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, for the Trinamool Congress leader, said formal notice was required as there were other respondents arraigned in the petition.

The court proceeded to issue notice to the Secretary General and MPs Kakori Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Rachana Banerjee, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Partha Bhowmick, Arup Chakraborty, Adhikari Deepak Dev, Sayani Ghosh, Bapi Haldar, Md Abu Taher Khan, Kalipada Saren Kherwal, Asit Kumar Mal, June Maliah, Mitali Bag, Khalilur Rahaman, Mala Roy, Sharmila Sarkar and Yusuf Pathan.

The TMC leader said he had met Speaker Birla on August 12 over the issue after sending a written reminder on July 27.

The dispute follows a rebellion within the TMC parliamentary party after 20 of its Lok Sabha MPs announced that they had joined or merged with the NCPI, a Tripura-based political outfit, and sought separate recognition in the House.

The rebel MPs have subsequently been treated as an NCPI group in Parliament and have participated in NDA parliamentary activities.

The TMC has maintained that the MPs were elected on its symbol and that their decision to align with another political formation amounts to voluntarily giving up membership of the party, attracting disqualification under the anti-defection law. The rebel camp has maintained that its move constituted a valid merger.