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Lok Sabha notices 20 rebel TMC MPs on defection pleas
The Hindu··27 Aug
The Lok Sabha Secretariat issued notices to 20 MPs who left the Trinamool Congress for the Nationalist Citizens Party of India. It asked for replies within seven days. Abhishek Banerjee filed the disqualification petitions on June 19. The notices are dated August 25, the same day the Supreme Court agreed to hear his plea for a faster decision.
Prism
What It Means For You
- The 20 MPs have seven days from receipt to file comments with the Speaker's office.
- The Supreme Court told the parties the issue is concluding proceedings within a time frame, not issuing notices.
- Any disqualification would change the composition of the Lok Sabha for the remainder of its term.
What's Happening
- Banerjee filed the petitions under Rule 6 of the 1985 anti-defection rules.
- He met the Speaker on August 12 after a written reminder on July 27.
- TMC MP Mahua Moitra said on X that the notices are dated the exact day of the court hearing.
Where the Anti-Defection Rules Sit
- The Speaker decides disqualification petitions, and the rules set no deadline for that decision.
- The Supreme Court declined to notice the Speaker's office after the Solicitor General said he represented it.
- More than two months passed between the petitions being filed and the notices being issued.
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