Supreme Court Leaves TMC Disqualification Pleas to Speaker

The Supreme Court on September 28 disposed of a petition by Trinamool Congress MLA Sohandeb Chattopadhyay seeking a prompt decision on disqualification pleas against 10 rival-faction legislators, expressing confidence that West Bengal Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose would decide them within a reasonable period. The court said disqualification petitions are ordinarily expected to be decided within about three months. It noted that the petitions against the 10 MLAs were filed on July 8, 2026, and said it had no reason to doubt that the Speaker would act within the timeframe established by its earlier rulings. The bench did not impose a direct order requiring a decision by a specific date. Reports of the hearing differ over the endpoint of the three-month period: most give October 8, while one gives October 10. The supplied accounts do not resolve that discrepancy. The court’s stated expectation, rather than a court-enforced deadline, was the outcome of Chattopadhyay’s petition. The disqualification petitions allege that the 10 legislators defected, invoking the anti-defection provisions in the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule. The allegations remain matters for the Speaker to decide.