Calcutta High Court rejects BJP MLAs plea

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha advised the legislators to resolve the issue through discussions with Speaker Banerjee

Tapas Ghosh   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |    11.06.22  : Calcutta High Court on Friday declined to hear a petition moved by seven BJP MLAs, including Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, challenging Speaker Biman Banderjee’s decision to suspend them from the Assembly for this year.

Adhikari, along with Dipak Burman, Shankar Ghosh, Manoj Tigga and Narahari Mahato, had been suspended by the Speaker on March 28 for their alleged unruly conduct in the House.

Two other MLAs — Sudip Mukherjee and Mihir Goswami — had been suspended earlier for creating chaos during the governor’s address in the Budget session in March. These two BJP MLAs had joined the five others in moving the court against the Speaker’s decision to suspend them.

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha advised the legislators to resolve the issue through discussions with Speaker Banerjee. “Forget about ego. Go and settle the dispute through bipartite discussion,” Justice Mantha told the MLAs.

The court, however, said: “Go to the Assembly today and let me know. If you want to challenge the process adopted by the Speaker during your expulsion, I will hear the case. But for that, you have to file a fresh petition on Monday. I will hear your case on Tuesday.”

Appearing for the state government, advocate general S.N. Mukherjee claimed that the high court had no jurisdiction to adjudicate a decision taken by the Assembly Speaker for the smooth functioning of the session.