Kolkata, October 9 (Daily Kiran) : The Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly, Rathindra Bose, has postponed the decision on the disqualification of ten rebel MLAs due to procedural errors in the previous application. The Speaker has called for a new submission to rectify these mistakes.
Among the group of ten MLAs is Ritabrata Banerjee, the leader of the rebel faction and the current Leader of the Opposition in the assembly. The decision came after a significant hearing on Thursday, with details emerging on Friday morning. Sources indicated that the Speaker clarified that the request for a new application is not directly related to the disqualification of the ten rebel legislators.
It has been revealed that during the review of the main petition submitted by senior TMC MLA Sovandev Chattopadhyay, who is a prominent figure aligned with former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, it was found that while the application itself followed procedural rules, the accompanying documents were not properly verified and signed as per the regulations.
According to the West Bengal Assembly (Disqualification on Grounds of Defection) Rules, it is mandatory for every page of the documents attached to the petition to be signed and verified in the same manner as the original application.
Sources reported that the Speaker discovered that procedural requirements were not adhered to. Every page of the attached documents must undergo thorough verification and be signed, which was not done in this case. Consequently, the Speaker has requested a new application to address these procedural errors.
Crucially, sources noted that the Speaker has not made any ruling on the merits of the defection allegations against the ten rebel MLAs. This implies that the Speaker has not expressed any opinion on whether the allegations against these “rebel” legislators are valid or not. Sovandev Chattopadhyay has been granted the opportunity to submit a new application and complete all necessary forms as required by law.
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