New Delhi: The office of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla has granted time till October 20 to the 20 rebel MPs of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to reply to a petition filed by TMC Mamata Banerjee faction leader Abhishek Banerjee seeking the disqualification of the parliamentarians, reported Economic Times.
Speaker Birla had earlier on September 25 granted them time until October 8. But on Thursday (October 8), the MPs again wrote to the Speaker seeking an extension until October 22 which was their previous demand. The speaker granted them time until, October 20.
The Supreme Court on September 25 had observed that the Lok Sabha speaker should dispose of the petition expeditiously. The top court had made the remarks while hearing the petition filed by Abhishek Banerjee.
Banerjee’s petition seeks the disqualification of the 20 rebel MPs under Rule 6 of the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985.
On June 14, after meeting Lok Sabha speaker Birla, the rebel TMC MPs announced that they will be merging with a little-known regional party named the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) in a bid to avoid disqualification under anti-defection law.
