The Supreme Court on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) stopped short of requiring Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to give a specific time line for completing the disqualification proceedings pending against 20 rebel Trinamool Congress party MPs who have aligned themselves with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
The dispute within the party follows a rebellion within the TMC parliamentary party after 20 of its Lok Sabha MPs announced that they had joined or merged with the NCPI, a Tripura-based political outfit, and sought separate recognition in the House.
The rebel MPs had subsequently been treated as an NCPI group in Parliament. They had participated in NDA parliamentary activities.
Senior advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Maninder Singh, for the rebel MPs, said the Supreme Court monitoring and the three-month time limit highlighted in the Keshab Meghachandra Singh versus Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly, was only applicable in cases of “complete inaction” on the part of the Speaker concerned. Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, said the rebel MPs had already got six weeks, and have now sought four weeks more.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant was hearing a plea filed by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee contending that Speaker Birla was delaying disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.
