The Calcutta High Court has cancelled the membership of senior leader Mukul Roy in the West Bengal assembly under the anti-defection law, marking a significant moment in Indian jurisprudence.
Trinamool Congress Legislature party on Monday formally nominated party leaders Biman Banerjee and Sonali Guha for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker respectively in West Bengal assembly.
Uproarious scenes on the concluding day of the special session on Thursday turned the West Bengal Assembly into a cauldron of chaos, as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's speech was repeatedly drowned out by slogan-shouting, leading to the suspension of five Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs and the collapse of two legislators during forcible eviction by marshalls.
After West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose refused to concede to their request that their swearing-in be held in the assembly, two newly elected Trinamool Congress legislators held a protest on Wednesday on the assembly premises.
A two-day special session of the West Bengal assembly was convened by the government on September 2 to table and pass a Bill which would provide for capital punishment to convicted rapists, Parliamentary Affairs minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said. The Bill would be tabled for discussion and passage on Tuesday, the second day of the special session, Speaker Biman Banerjee said.
Amid the ongoing impasse over the swearing-in of two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday summoned a special session of the West Bengal Assembly and asserted that the functioning of the House is not solely dependent on the Governor.
Six Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the West Bengal assembly over staging protests in the House in view of unrest in Sandeshkhali.
"I am really disappointed with the way the party is functioning. I am fed up with so many allegations of corruption levelled against the party and the government. I also do not support the way the issue of Sandeshkhali was handled," he said while maintaining that the dual issues of corruption and Sandeshkhali were the primary triggers for his decision to quit.
Adhikari, a former Trinamool Congress minister and MLA, quit all posts and had switched over to the saffron camp last week.
CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday took oath as the new governor of West Bengal.
As the second half of the assembly session began, the speaker asked BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul to read out the last two lines of the motion requesting withdrawal of the suspension order against Adhikari and four other MLAs -- Manoj Tigga, Narahari Mahato, Shankar Ghosh and Dipak Barman.
Calling the political condition prevailing in West Bengal "horrible and frightening", Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar alleged on Tuesday that the people of the state do not have the freedom to exercise their franchise fearlessly.
Noting that the meeting time was 'unusual and history of sorts in the making', the governor, however, said the decision was taken as per the recommendation of the state Cabinet.
The newly-elected MLAs of the Trinamool Congress unanimously elected Banerjee as the legislative party leader at a meeting, its secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said.
Vaidyanathan apologised to the court but added that the present plea was filed as another petition challenging a high court order dated April 11, 2022 is pending before the apex court.
In a break from tradition, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was on Thursday administered the oath as a member of the state assembly by Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Guha's remark drew a sharp reaction from the BJP, which termed it as an 'insult to the security forces'.
Mathew Samuel said that steps against corruption are needed and investigations should be fair.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday grilled arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee and his alleged associate Arpita Mukherjee who were arrested in connection with the school jobs scam, sources said.
Around 25 BJP MLAs led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari then walked out of the assembly, claiming that several party legislators were roughed up by TMC MLAs inside the House.
Maintaining that the letter of resignation was not written in accordance with the rules of conduct of business in the assembly, Banerjee said it did not have any mention of the date from which the legislator wanted to vacate his seat.
Banerjee told journalists after an all-party meeting that though the participants differed over ways to tackle the pandemic, consensus emerged that the lockdown should be extended with relaxations.
Adhikari had demanded Roy's resignation under the anti-defection law, pointing out that the latter joined the TMC despite winning the assembly polls from the Krishnanagar Uttar assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.
Chatterjee, who was the state education minister when the scam took place, was arrested after around 26 hours of grilling in connection with the probe.
The Trinamool Congress on Monday wrote to Kolkata Police Commissioner Soumen Mitra seeking 'necessary action' under the law against the Central Bureau of Investigaton officials who arrested three senior party leaders 'illegally'.
BJP's Adhikari said that an opposition MLA is usually appointed as the PAC chairperson following the norm, but the TMC misused that rule to appoint Roy as its chairman.
West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress, became the second state after Congress-ruled Punjab, where such a resolution has been tabled and passed.
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 the Trinamool Congress from the Bharatiya Janata Party after the state polls.
Trinamool Congress supporters held demonstrations defying lockdown norms in various places, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered to court arrest on Monday against the arrest of two West Bengal ministers in the Narada case by the CBI.
The BJP could win only 16 out of 57 seats where Shah campaigned.
Later on while speaking to the reporters, Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the BJP legislators were forced to stage protest as there was no mention of post-poll violence in the speech copy circulated among the MLAs.
Hours after quitting as the MLA of the West Bengal Assembly, Rajib Banerjee on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the Trinamool Congress, intensifying speculation that he might soon switch over to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The division bench said it deemed it appropriate to stay the special court's order and direct that the "accused person shall be treated to be in judicial custody till further orders".
Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation office on Monday in connection with the Narada sting operation, officials said.
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee keen on framing a stringent act to prevent malpractices by chit fund firms.
The brewing discontentment in the party may adversely impact the TMC's prospects in the next assembly polls due in April-May next year.
Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
The incident, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said, has put the country's democratic history to "shame".
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