Setback for Mamata Banerjee: Calcutta HC refuses to stay rebel TMC MLA's appointment as Leader of Opposition

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday declined to pass any interim order against West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose's decision to recognise MLA Ritabrata Banerjee, an expelled member of Trinamool Congress (TMC), as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the House..Justice Krishna Rao was dealing with a petition filed by senior Trinamool Congress leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who is aligned with party chairperson Mamata Banerjee.The decision comes at a time when the TMC is grappling with internal divisions following its recent defeat in the State Assembly polls.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 Court asked the respondents to file their response to the petition within three weeks and listed the matter for a hearing on July 28. .After the West Bengal Assembly election results were declared on May 4, a meeting of TMC MLAs is stated to have been held on May 6. At this meeting, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay was nominated as the LoP by the TMC. The decision was later communicated to the Speaker’s office.The Speaker, however, called for a resolution and the minutes of the meeting from the legislative party. The party is then said to have held another meeting on May 19. Following that, the resolution and attendance sheet were forwarded to the Speaker.However, the Speaker allegedly ignored these communications and proceeded to recognise Ritabrata Banerjee as the LoP on the basis of support allegedly extended by a rebel group of TMC MLAs.This was challenged by Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in a writ petition before the High Court. On June 17, the Court remarked that the Speaker appeared to have been “keen” to accept the decision of rebel TMC MLAs to appoint their LoP in the house, contrary to the party's official pick for the post. Before reserving the verdict on the question of interim reliefs on Wednesday, the Court also rejected the argument that Ritabrata Banerjee's expulsion from TMC was inconsequential since it was an internal matter of the party."You cannot say no consequences once one party is telling that it is expelled member and it has been intimated to the Speaker, and (then) the Speaker is appointing the same person," the Bench had said, at the time. .Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay appeared for the petitioner.Additional Advocate General Bilwadal Bhattacharya represented the Governor.Senior Advocate Jaydip Kar represented MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Akhruzzaman.