The Supreme Court on Monday (September 28, 2026) urged the Speaker of the West Bengal State Legislative Assembly to conclude the disqualification proceedings initiated by former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress faction against rival Ritabrata Banerjee faction under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for alleged defection by October 8, 2026.
The court had suggested three months to be a reasonable time unless exceptional circumstances exist. Mr.
Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Vivek Tankha and advocate Preetika Dwivedi, appearing for the Mamata Banerjee camp, said the apex court had held in the Keisham Meghachandra Singh versus Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly judgment that the Assembly Speaker, acting as a Tribunal under the anti-defection law of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, must decide disqualification petitions within a “reasonable time”. Sibal said the court must examine this “pattern” or it would create “political havoc”.
Mr.
Sibal said the Supreme Court’s separate findings in the Shiv Sena split case judgment ( Subhash Desai versus Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra ) of 2023 that the adjudication of disqualification petitions was strictly the domain of the Speaker and the “But even if the decision is taken by the Speaker on disqualification, it is not the last word,” Justice Bagchi said, referring to the point that the Speaker’s decision could be appealed in the constitutional court. “The Speaker is fully cognisant of the principles laid down by the Supreme Court, and shall make all endeavour to take an appropriate decision within the framework,” the court noted in the order, disposing of the petition.
