NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Wednesday remarked that it expected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to take an “expeditious” decision on a plea seeking the disqualification of 20 rebel TMC MPs who have joined Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).A bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said it was aware that it could not issue a direction to the Lok Sabha Speaker, “but we just want to remind him about an expeditious resolution”.Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, representing TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, submitted that the rebel parliamentarians had not filed a response despite notices being issued and had sought further extension.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Speaker, told SC that Birla had issued notices on the disqualification petitions. “He knows the seriousness of the matter,” Mehta said.The CJI remarked, “We will expect anything which is required to be decided expeditiously, the very nature… demands early adjudication.”
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Mehta responded, “Can a constitutional functionary remind another constitutional functionary of his constitutional duty?” He said the court should not prescribe a time limit for the Speaker.Justice Bagchi said, “…We may not give imperative directions, but keeping in mind the decision in the Keisham Meghachandra Singh case… have resolution of this issue expeditiously.”In the 2020 case, SC had ruled that the speaker must decide defection cases within a reasonable time, preferably three months.Justice Bagchi asked Mehta to submit a timeline for the Speaker’s decision. Mehta, however, said he could not give SC a commitment. “This court’s monitoring may not be justified. I would urge not to fix the Speaker’s schedule,” he said.The top court recorded the submission of the rebel MPs that they would file a reply within four weeks and adjourned the matter.
