Kolkata, Nov 13 : The Calcutta High Court on Thursday cancelled the membership of senior leader Mukul Roy in the West Bengal assembly under the anti-defection law.
This was the first time in the history of Indian jurisprudence that a high court exercised its constitutional authority to disqualify an elected lawmaker under the anti-defection, lawyers at the Calcutta High Court claimed.
Roy was elected to the House on a BJP ticket from the Krishnanagar Uttar seat in May 2021, but joined the ruling Trinamool Congress in June that year in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, while retaining his MLA status.
The cancellation renders the Krishnanagar Uttar seat vacant, but a bypoll to the seat is unlikely, as elections to the state assembly are due early next year, officials said.
A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi disqualified Roy as a member of the state assembly, passing judgment on petitions by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP MLA Ambika Roy.
“This is the first time in this country that a high court exercised its Constitutional powers to disqualify an MLA under the anti-defection law (introduced by the 52nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1985). It may have taken some time for the court to deliver this verdict. But, it is a triumph of truth and dharma,” said Bilwadal Banerjee, Adhikari’s counsel.
Adhikari had filed the petition before the high court, challenging Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee’s decision to reject his plea to disqualify Roy under the anti-defection law, alleging that he switched over to the ruling TMC after being elected on a BJP ticket.
In July 2011, Roy was named the chairman of the assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, a position traditionally held by members of the state’s opposition camp.
Ambika Roy had moved a separate petition before the high court, challenging Mukul Roy’s appointment as PAC chairman on grounds that the party had never nominated him for the position in the wake of his crossover to the TMC.
Adhikari hailed the verdict as a “victory of the Constitution” and a defeat of those who try to undermine it.
“I have been fighting against this for the last four years. Since 2011, ever since Mamata Banerjee ascended to power, the TMC orchestrated 54 defections of opposition MLAs. The BJP finally achieved what no other opposition parties could,” he asserted.
“This is only phase one of my fight. Three other MLAs who made similar switchovers in recent times – Tanmay Ghosh, Tapasi Mondal and Suman Kanjilal – should remain prepared because I am coming after them next,” Adhikari said.
Adhikari also pointed fingers at the Speaker’s initial rulings on Roy, and questioned his neutrality in presiding over the assembly.
“The Speaker should know that party faithfuls do not have the final say, the Constitution does,” he said.
Responding to Adhikari’s allegations, TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty alleged that the BJP leader was resorting to “political hypocrisy”.
“Defectors exist in Suvendu’s own family. Why else would Suvendu’s father Sisir Adhikari and his brother Dibyendu attend BJP rallies and vote in the Parliament in favour of the saffron camp in defiance of TMC whips, after getting elected as MPs on TMC tickets,” he said.
“How do you think the BJP wrested power in Goa and Maharashtra? It would have been good to see the judiciary playing the same role across all such cases, as it did in the case of Mukul Roy,” Chakraborty added. (PTI)
