Can Speaker ignore TMC's choice for Leader of Opposition? Calcutta High Court to decide

The Calcutta High Court is slated to decide if the Speaker of a Legislative Assembly can ignore an opposition political party's pick for Leader of Opposition (LoP) in a dispute involving the recognition rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as the LoP in the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly [Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay v Hon’ble Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly and Others]..The Speaker's decision to declare Banerjee as the LoP has been challenged by TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, the party's choice for the post. The case raises a question of whether the Speaker can recognise a person as LoP on the basis of support from a group of MLAs, when the political party in opposition has recommended another name for the post.Justice Krishna Rao heard the matter on Thursday, when counsel representing the respondents sought time to answer Chattopadhyay's plea for interim relief.The Court has scheduled the case for further hearing on June 16..In yesterday's hearing, Senior Advocate Kalyan Banerjee appeared for Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and argued that the Speaker could not have ignored the TMC's recommendation in favour of Chattopadhyay.Banerjee submitted that the established practice in the West Bengal Assembly, as well as in Parliament, is that the Speaker recognises the Leader of Opposition on the basis of the recommendation made by the parent political party in opposition.“The decision must come from the political party and not the legislature party,” Banerjee argued..The Court was told that after the Assembly election results were declared on May 4, 2026, a meeting of TMC MLAs was held on May 6. At this meeting, Chattopadhyay was nominated as the Leader of Opposition. The decision was later communicated to the Speaker’s office.According to the petitioner, the Speaker later called for a resolution from the legislative party meeting along with the signatures of MLAs. Another meeting was held on May 19, after which the resolution and attendance sheet were forwarded to the Speaker.However, Banerjee argued that the Speaker subsequently recognised Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition on the basis of support allegedly extended by a rebel group of MLAs.He also submitted that Ritabrata Banerjee and another MLA had already been expelled from the TMC before his recognition as LoP..Additional Advocate General Bilwadal Bhattacharya, appearing for the Speaker, opposed the plea and raised objections to its maintainability. It was argued that Article 212 of the Constitution bars courts from interfering with legislative proceedings on the ground of procedural irregularity..The Court observed that the order recognising the Leader of Opposition would have to be produced for an effective adjudication of the dispute..The matter will be heard next on June 16, ahead of the first session of the new Assembly scheduled to begin on June 18..TMC leader Mamata Banerjee was represented by Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy.