HC rejects TMC’s interim order plea on Ritabrata Banerjee’s recognition as LoP

THe Calcutta heights margaret court on th turned shoot down a Trinamool u.s. Congress (TMC) plea for an interim order on West Bengal assembly speaker Rathindra Nath Bose’s decision recognising expelled party leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP).“The court did not find any prima facie case or a balance of convenience [the test determining whether to grant an interim injunction or temporary relief in civil litigation] in the prayer of the petitioner for the grant of an interim order. The interim order is refused,” said Justice Krishna Rao.The court on Wednesday reserved its order on TMC legislator Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay’s petition challenging Bose’s June 3 decision. It directed all parties to file affidavits as the court will hear the plea after three weeks.Justice Rao had earlier questioned Bose’s decision, even as the TMC nominated Chattopadhyay for the LoP’s post.The TMC has been firefighting since it lost power in West Bengal last month after 15 years. It expelled two of its 78 legislators, Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, before 57 of them rebelled and backed Banerjee as the LoP. Twenty rebel TMC parliamentarians proposed merging with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India. They backed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, boosting the ruling coalition’s numbers in the Lok Sabha.Three of the TMC’s 13 Rajya Sabha members have also resigned.On June 3, Bose recognised 58 rebel TMC legislators as the principal opposition party and named Banerjee and Saha as the LoP and deputy LoP. This came a month after the BJP swept to power in West Bengal for the first time, winning 207 of 294 seats. The TMC’s tally was reduced to 80.The TMC expelled Banerjee and Saha on June 1 after chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said that a written complaint of the two led to a probe into the alleged forgery of signatures of some TMC lawmakers on a May 19 resolution nominating Chattopadhyay as the LoP. TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has been named in the alleged forgery case as he sent a copy of the resolution to Bose.TMC leader Kunal Ghosh maintained that theirs is the opposition party and Chattopadhyay is the LoP. “We are not bothered as to who took away the chair through backdoor politics. In the people’s court and the political arena of West Bengal, this has been established. We are not giving it any importance.”Saha called the high court order a moral victory in their fight. “...58 legislators sent a letter to the assembly speaker extending their support to Banerjee as the LoP. The speaker recognised him as the LoP. Today, the decision got the stamp of the Calcutta high court,” said Saha.BJP legislator Tarunjyoti Tewari said numbers speak on the floor of the assembly. “Banerjee had the numbers. He claimed to be the LoP. The speaker has approved it. A faction moved the high court. The court turned down their prayer.”