Calcutta HC refuses interim relief on Bengal LoP appointment row
Court declines to stay Speaker's decision appointing dissident TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused any interim order on the West Bengal Assembly Speaker's decision to appoint dissident Trinamul group MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of the Opposition. The breakaway group has claimed the support of 58 of the party’s total 80 seats.
Loyalist TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay moved the court challenging the rejection of his name and the appointment of Banerjee as the LoP by the Speaker.
Justice Krishna Rao, refusing any interim order on the Speaker's decision as prayed for by Chattopadhyay, directed that the matter would appear for hearing again on July 28.
The court directed the respondents in the petition to file affidavits within three weeks.
The petitioner will have the opportunity to reply to the affidavits within the subsequent two weeks, Justice Rao directed.
