Disqualification proceedings against 20 rebel TMC MPs intensify as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeks their replies after Supreme Court intervention.
Qalam Times News Network
New Delhi | August 26, 2026
DISQUALIFICATION proceedings against 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs have entered a crucial phase after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla sought their responses to petitions seeking their removal from Parliament. The development came as the Supreme Court on Tuesday, August 25, took up a plea filed by TMC general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, who had challenged the delay in deciding the disqualification petitions.
The 20 MPs, including Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Shatabdi Roy, had left the TMC following the party’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections and subsequently aligned themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), which has extended support to the NDA. The rebel group has sought recognition of its merger with NCPI, but that recognition has not yet been formally approved.
Speaker Gives MPs Seven Days to Respond about Disqualification
The latest move means the MPs must now respond to the disqualification petitions filed against them. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court that the Speaker’s office had already initiated proceedings under the anti-defection provisions contained in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and had issued individual notices to all 20 MPs.
The Supreme Court hearing was conducted by a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana. Abhishek Banerjee’s petition sought a time-bound decision from the Speaker on the pending disqualification proceedings.
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee appeared for Abhishek Banerjee, while Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the Lok Sabha Speaker and the House Secretariat. The court made it clear that the central issue was not merely the issuing of notices but whether the proceedings would be completed within a reasonable timeframe.
The legal dispute dates back to June, when 20 MPs who had been elected on TMC tickets moved towards NCPI. According to reports, 19 of them submitted a representation to Speaker Om Birla on June 14 seeking recognition of their merger with NCPI, while MP Rachana Banerjee submitted a similar representation the following day. The merger has remained pending.
The TMC subsequently filed separate petitions seeking the disqualification of the MPs under the anti-defection law. Abhishek Banerjee also pursued the matter with the Speaker and later approached the Supreme Court, arguing that a decision on the petitions should not be unduly delayed.
The Supreme Court has now sought responses from the 20 rebel MPs. The case is expected to come up again after the parties respond to the court’s notice. The proceedings could have major implications for the parliamentary status of the MPs and for the continuing dispute over their move from the TMC to NCPI.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra also criticised the timing of the Speaker’s action in a post on X. She claimed that the party had submitted 20 disqualification petitions on June 19 and alleged that the notices to the rebel MPs were issued only on August 25, the same day the matter was heard by the Supreme Court.
The rebel MPs’ position, however, is that their move to NCPI constitutes a valid political merger. The question of whether their action satisfies the constitutional requirements governing mergers and whether they can retain their parliamentary seats will ultimately be central to the disqualification proceedings.
For now, the DISQUALIFICATION battle has moved from a prolonged political dispute into a formal parliamentary process, with the Speaker’s office seeking replies from all 20 MPs and the Supreme Court keeping the matter under judicial scrutiny.
