Kolkata: Even while refusing an interim stay on assembly speaker Rathindra Bose’s June 3 decision to appoint Trinamool rebel camp neta Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of opposition, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday said the appointment will be a provisional decision valid for only two months till a single bench disposes Mamata Banerjee-loyalist MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay’s appeal against the appointment. The refusal to grant the stay was to prevent “disruption” in the assembly, the court said.An HC division bench of justices Shampa Sarkar and Ajay Kumar Gupta said in the judgment: “In order to prevent any disruption or disorderliness in the House, we do not pass any order of injunction on the decision of the speaker, but we make the decision of June 3, 2026, a provisional decision and the appointments of respondent No. 5 and 6 (Ritabrata and Akhruzzaman) must be treated as provisional.” Akhruzzaman was appointed the chief whip.“The decision of the speaker shall be operative for a period of two months, or until further orders by the writ court, whichever is earlier,” the court added.Refusing to accept the argument that Article 212, which bars courts from inquiring into internal proceedings of the state legislature, is applicable in this case, the court said, “The doubt which comes to the mind of the court, while appreciating the sequence of events, on and from May 6, 2026 up to June 3, 2026, cannot be brushed under the carpet, by taking shelter under Article 212 of the Constitution.”The HC also pointed out that the speaker had taken time to decide on the Trinamool plea, but had quickly decided on the rebel plea. The bench said, “Prima facie, the delay was not a mere procedural irregularity.”The court also questioned why the speaker did not hear out both Trinamool factions. “In our prima facie view, the speaker was required to call both factions, ask them to place their relevant supporting documents and ought to have also considered the party’s constitution, rules, code etc. Whether the action of the honorable speaker was in contravention of, or antithetic to the democratic ideals, or to the principles of democracy, neutrality and impartiality must be specifically decided by the learned single judge,” the HC said.Citing the Supreme Court’s Subhash Desai judgment, the bench made it clear that it was the political party alone which could decide upon the chief whip and the leader of the opposition. “It was held that the speaker should have made an inquiry into the matter. It was also held that irrespective of the pendency of the issue before the Election Commission of India as to which one was the original political party, the speaker should decide the matter independently,” the HC said.Reacting to the HC judgment, Ritabrata said, “We have the numbers and people are with us. We are very confident…we have followed all rules and norms. It is not only a question of the legislative party… a successful special session was convened on June 22. On the the next day, we wrote to the EC. We are the real Trinamool Congress.”TMC MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee said, “The division bench has said that the entire matter should be heard by the single bench within two months, and that the recognition order issued by the speaker will be valid till then.”TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “The HC made it clear that it is a provisional appointment and not permanent.”
