Kolkata April 22 PTI The next hearing of the Mukul Roy disqualification case as an MLA will take place in West Bengal Assembly on April 28 an assembly official said Calcutta High Court had last week set aside Speaker Biman Banerjees order which had dismissed a petition by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari seeking disqualification of TMC lawmaker Mukul Roy as a member of the House on the ground of defection and restored the matter for fresh consideration Roy a former BJP national vice-president had defected to the ruling TMC from BJP in June 2021 after winning the assembly poll on a BJP ticket in March-April state poll The lawyers of both Roy and Adhikari were present at the Speakers chamber today and placed their arguments The next hearing will take place on April 28 an assembly official said In February this year West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee had dismissed the petition filed by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari seeking Mukul Roys disqualification as an MLA under the anti-defection law for switching sides after elections Adhikari had filed the petition before the speaker on June 17 last year BJP MLA Ambika Roy had moved the HC in July last year challenging Roys election as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and prayed for the nomination of an opposition member to the post as per tradition PTI PNT KK KK KK

Kolkata April 18 PTI The hearing into Mukul Roys disqualification as an MLA will begin again in West Bengal assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee who had earlier dismissed a petition on it said on Monday Assembly sources said the hearing in the case is likely to begin this Friday The honourable court has sent a reminder I will look into it legally I will call both parties and hold a hearing Banerjee told reporters here Calcutta High Court had last week set aside the speakers order dismissing a petition by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari seeking disqualification of TMC lawmaker Mukul Roy as a member of the House on the ground of defection and restored the matter for fresh consideration Roy a former BJP national vice-president had defected to the ruling TMC from BJP in June 2021 after winning the assembly poll in West Bengal on a BJP ticket In February this year Banerjee had dismissed Adhikaris petition of June 17 2021 seeking Roys disqualification as an MLA under the anti-defection law for switching sides after the election BJP MLA Ambika Roy had moved the HC in July last year challenging Roys election as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee PAC and prayed for the nomination of an opposition member to the post as per tradition PTI PNT KK KK KK

New Delhi [India], February 25 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari challenging the West Bengal Assembly Speaker's decision not to disqualify Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Mukul Roy under the anti-defection law.

New Delhi Feb 25 PTI The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari against an order of the West Bengal Assembly Speaker dismissing his petition seeking Mukul Roys disqualification as an MLA West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee on February 11 had dismissed the petition filed by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari seeking Mukul Roys disqualification as an MLA under the anti-defection law for switching sides after elections Roy a former BJP national vice-president had defected to the ruling TMC in June last year A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai asked Adhikari to move the Calcutta high court against the Speakers decision This writ petition is filed under article 32 challenging speaker decision dismissing Mukul Roys appeal against disqualification as MLA After hearing the counsel we are of considered view that the petitioner can approach High Court assailing speaker order the bench said The top court also took note of the submission that Roys term as the Public Accounts Committee PAC Chairman is only for one year and asked the High Court to decide the matter within a month At the outset the bench asked senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan appearing for Adhikari what was the fundamental right of the petitioner which was violated What is the extraordinary in this what fundamental rights involved Everything being filed under Article 32 the bench asked Vaidyanathan told the bench that the Speakers decision is wholly arbitrary With regard to observations made by the high court on September 28 2021 the apex court said the observations would be treated as prima facie Needless to say the observation made by HC while passing order dated September 28 2021 is prima facie and parties are to take all contentions available to them under law Considering the the tenure of Mukul Roy as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee is only for one year we request the high court to decide the petitions expeditiously and not later than a period of one months the bench said The apex court was hearing appeals filed by West Bengal Assembly Speaker and its Secretary and the Returning Officer against the Calcutta High Courts order The high court had asked Banerjee to take a decision on the petition for disqualification of Roy as a member of the House by October 7 Adhikari leader of the Opposition on June 17 had filed the petition before the Speaker seeking Roys disqualification which was dismissed on February 11 Ambika Roy BJP MLA of the state had moved the high court in July challenging Roys election as PAC Chairman and prayed for nomination of an opposition member to the post as per tradition PTI PKS SA

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 12 (ANI): Stepping up his attacks against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mukul Roy, party state general secretary Kunal Ghosh on Saturday said the former union minister has no identity other than being a BJP MLA.

Kolkata January 28 PTI The hearing in the Mukul Roy disqualification case was completed in West Bengal Assembly on Friday an official of the Assembly secretariat said The submission from Roys side has ended and his lawyers argued that he is still with the BJP while the saffron party presented its closing arguments the official said The hearing in the case got over Both sides have argued their stands and have placed their views As per the law the matter will be sorted out soon We will abide by the order of the Supreme Court he said Reacting to the development the Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that the BJP has made it clear that Roy has joined TMC We have made it clear that Roy and four other BJP MLAs have joined TMC No one is above the law the BJP leader said The apex court hearing two cases had on January 17 expressed the hope that West Bengal speaker will decide within two weeks a plea seeking disqualification of Mukul Roy who defected to the ruling TMC from BJP after the 2021 March-April state poll The two appeals had been filed by West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee and its secretary and the returning officer against the Calcutta High Courts order The high court had asked Banerjee to take a decision on the petition for disqualification of Roy as a member of the House by October 7 Adhikari who had defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigarm seat in the state poll had on June 17 filed the petition before the speaker seeking Roys disqualification as he had joined TMC Ambika Roy BJP MLA of the state had moved the high court in July challenging Roys election as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee PAC and prayed for the nomination of an opposition member to the post as per tradition Since the assembly polls results in May last year five BJP MLAs including Roy had switched over to TMC PTI PNT KK KK KK

New Delhi [India], January 17 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday expressed hope that the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee will decide on the disqualification petition moved against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Mukul Roy, within two weeks.

New Delhi Nov 22 PTI The Supreme Court Monday rued the general practice of Speakers delaying decisions on pleas seeking disqualification of lawmakers and the subsequent arguments that courts should stay away while hoping that the West Bengal Assembly Speaker would decide on such a plea against Mukul Roy who defected to TMC from BJP after the state pollsThe apex courts observations came while hearing two separate appeals filed by West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee and its Secretary and the Returning Officer against the Calcutta High Courts orderThe high court asked Banerjee to take a decision on the petition for disqualification of Roy as a member of the House by October 7A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and Hima Kohli on Monday expressed hope that the Speaker will take a decision on the disqualification plea against Roy on the claim that he has defected to the Trinamool Congress TMC after being elected on a BJP ticket and fixed the pleas for hearing in January next yearThere is a general practice of speakers delaying the hearing and decisions on disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule of the constitutionthere are so many cases where there is a delay by the Speaker But we are told that you stay away and let the Speaker decide the bench saidSenior advocate A M Singhvi appearing for Banerjee said the courts need to interfere in cases where there are egregious delays but the instant case does not warrant such an interference as several adjournments have been sought by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari in the matter Singhvi referred to another case in which a plea was moved by DMK seeking a direction to then Tamil Nadu Speaker to decide the plea for disqualification of 11 AIADMK lawmakers who had voted against the then Chief Minister K Palaniswami during the 2017 confidence vote The term of the Assembly expired but the issue could not be decided he saidThe apex court which did not issue notice on the appeals took note of Singhvis submissions that the disqualification plea is scheduled for hearing on December 21 before the SpeakerThe petition for disqualification filed under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution is now listed on December 21 We hope the Speaker proceeds with the hearing of the matter and decide the matter in accordance with law the bench said and fixed the case for hearing in January next yearAdhikari leader of the Opposition on June 17 had filed the petition before the Speaker seeking Roys disqualificationAmbika Roy BJP MLA of the state had moved the high court in July challenging Roys election as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee PAC and prayed for nomination of an opposition member to the post as per traditionAt the outset Singhvi assailed the high courts decision saying that it did not leave anything to be decided by the Speaker who is supposed to hear both the sides and moreover the courts cannot micro-manage the calendar of the speakerIf we were to micro-manage by now there would be an order We are just trying to cull out of you the status of proceedings the bench saidSinghvi said the high court adjourned the hearing on October 7 after being apprised that an appeal has been filed in the apex court Singhvi said the high court has already held that the appointment of Roy as head of the PAC was part of the assembly proceedings Good bad or indifferent the Speaker is the persona designata he argued But there should not be a delay in deciding such a plea the bench said Earlier the high court had said in its order that the issue pertaining to disqualification of Roy as a member of the Assembly is correlated with him being the chairman of the PAC It had said a petition filed for Roys disqualification is pending before the Speaker for more than three months the maximum period fixed in a judgement of the Supreme Court for decision thereof Before we proceed further in the matter let the respondent No 1 the Speaker place before us the order passed in the petition filed for disqualification of respondent No 2 Mukul Roy as Member of the Legislative Assembly the high court had said in its order The bench adjourned the matter to October 7 for further hearing stating In case of failure this Court will decide further course of action to be taken in the matter However the counsel for the Speaker on October 7 told the high court that an appeal has been filed in the apex court against its direction leading to the adjournment of the proceedings PTI SJK SA

New Delhi [India], November 22 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday said it expects the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee would take a call on the disqualification petition moved against Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Mukul Roy and posted the matter for hearing before it in the third week of January 2022.

New Delhi Nov 22 PTI The Supreme Court Monday expressed hope that West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee will take a decision on the petition for disqualification of Mukul Roy as a member of the House on the claim that he has defected to the Trinamool Congress TMC after being elected on a BJP ticket A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara and Hima Kohli was hearing two separate appeals filed by the Assembly Speaker and the Secretary and the Returning Officer of West Bengal Assembly against the Calcutta High Courts order The High Court on September 28 had asked the Speaker to take a decision on the plea for disqualification against Roy by October 7 The apex court which did not issue notice on the appeals took note of the submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi appearing for Banerjee that the disqualification plea is scheduled for hearing on December 21 before the Speaker We hope that the Speaker proceeds with the matter on December 21 2021 and decides the same in accordance with law the bench said and fixed the case for hearing in January next year Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had on June 17 had filed the petition before the Speaker seeking disqualification of Roy as a member of the Assembly claiming that he had defected to the TMC Ambika Roy BJP MLA of the state had moved the high court in July challenging Mukul Roys election as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee PAC and prayed for nomination of an opposition member to the post as per tradition PTI SJK SA