ParliamentAnti-defection
Speaker gives 20 rebel Trinamool MPs until 20 October to answer disqualification pleas
It is the third extension for the MPs who left the TMC for the NCPI in June. The Supreme Court has asked the Speaker to decide the case quickly but has set no deadline.
Key points
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's office has given the 20 rebel MPs until 20 October to reply to Abhishek Banerjee's disqualification petitions.
- The MPs had asked for 15 more days on 8 October, the third time they sought an extension.
- Abhishek Banerjee's petitions have been pending with the Speaker since June 2026.
- The Supreme Court has said the Speaker must act, but it has not fixed a time limit.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s office has given 20 rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs until 20 October to reply to petitions seeking their disqualification under the anti-defection law. The MPs had asked for 15 more days on 8 October. It is the third extension they have sought since notices went out in late August.
The petitions were filed by Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC’s general secretary and leader in the Lok Sabha, under Rule 6 of the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985. They have been pending since June.
The case in numbers
- 20 rebel MPsAll elected on the TMC symbol in 2024 and now aligned with the NCPI.
- 29 TMC MPs elected in 2024The rebels say their 20 make up more than two-thirds of the party in the Lok Sabha.
- 3 months Supreme Court normThe time the Court said in 2020 a Speaker should normally take to decide such a petition.
- 3 extensions soughtThe first seven-day deadline has moved to 22 September, 8 October and now 20 October.
Why the MPs face disqualification
On 14 June, 20 TMC MPs announced that they would merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The NCPI is a registered but unrecognised party that contested three seats in the 2023 Tripura Assembly election. The split came after the TMC’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly election.
Among the 20 are Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Satabdi Roy, Mala Roy and Yusuf Pathan. “Two-thirds of TMC MPs have given a letter to the Speaker for a separate seating arrangement,” Ghosh Dastidar said on 14 June.
The Tenth Schedule protects members only if at least two-thirds of their legislature party agree to a merger. The rebels say their move is a valid merger. The TMC argues that MPs elected on its symbol gave up their membership by joining another party, and that a group of legislators cannot merge on its own without the original party.
Before the Monsoon Session, the Speaker let the 20 MPs sit separately in the House. He has not recognised them as a separate party.
The court and the clock
Abhishek Banerjee moved the Supreme Court over the delay. On 25 August a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana issued notice to the 20 MPs. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the Speaker had already issued notices.
“It is not a question of issuing notices; it is a question of concluding the proceedings within a time frame.”
The Lok Sabha Secretariat’s notices gave the MPs seven days to reply. The Speaker later extended this to 22 September.
At the next hearing on 23 September, the TMC’s counsel cited the Court’s 2020 judgment in Keisham Meghachandra Singh, which treated three months as the outer limit for a Speaker’s decision barring exceptional circumstances. Mehta opposed a deadline. “The Court may not consider fixing any time limit,” he said. Justice Bagchi said “the Speaker needs to apply himself to the constitutional role assigned”, but the bench did not set a date. The case was reported to be listed again after six weeks.
On 25 September, the Speaker turned down the MPs’ request for four more weeks and gave them two, until 8 October. On the day of that deadline, the MPs asked for 15 more days.
“Our deadline to send a reply is about to end today. We are writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker requesting 15 days more time.”
She said their lawyers had not finished collecting the documents needed for the reply. The Speaker’s office has now allowed time until 20 October, two days short of the 22 October date they had sought.
Timeline
- 14 Jun 202620 TMC MPs announce a merger with the NCPI and meet the Speaker.
- Jun 2026Abhishek Banerjee files disqualification petitions against all 20.
- 18 Jul 2026Speaker allows the rebels separate seats; no decision on recognition.
- 25 Aug 2026Supreme Court issues notice to the 20 MPs; Lok Sabha notices give them seven days.
- 3 Sep 2026Deadline extended to 22 September.
- 23 Sep 2026Supreme Court presses for progress but sets no time limit.
- 25 Sep 2026Speaker refuses four weeks, sets 8 October.
- 8 Oct 2026MPs seek 15 more days.
- 20 Oct 2026New deadline for replies.
What comes next
Once replies are in, the Speaker decides whether the 20 MPs are disqualified. The decision is final under the Tenth Schedule but open to limited review by the courts.
The petitions were filed in June, close to four months ago, which is already longer than the three-month norm the Supreme Court laid down in 2020. The rebels’ replies are due before the Supreme Court is expected to take up the case again. Dates for the Winter Session of Parliament have not been announced.