The Supreme Court on Monday, October 26, granted 10 days to the faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee to file its response before the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the dispute over the name and election symbol of the Trinamool Congress, while allowing the Mamata Banerjee-led faction a further 10 days to respond to the rival camp's affidavit.
Source: IANS via Hi India
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana passed the directions while hearing a plea filed by Mamata Banerjee challenging the poll panel's interim order freezing the party's established name and its reserved 'Flowers and Grass' election symbol, IANS reported. ANI's reporting of the same hearing likewise said both factions had been given 10 days each to file their affidavits before the Commission.
Source: ANI via DevDiscourse
A two-week request, a 10-day compromise
The extension was sought because the deadline for the Ritabrata faction's reply was due to expire on Monday. The faction had asked for two weeks, and the Mamata Banerjee-led faction opposed the request; the court settled on 10 days for each side, a compromise that keeps the broader ECI timeline largely intact, according to Nation Press. The court reiterated that it has expressed no opinion on the merits of the dispute, leaving both sides free to raise their contentions before the poll panel.
Source: Nation Press
According to The CSR Journal's report of the hearing, counsel for the Ritabrata faction said the group had been unable to secure the non-judicial stamp papers required for its documentation because of the Dussehra celebrations in West Bengal, while senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee appeared for the Mamata Banerjee-led faction.
Source: The CSR Journal
What happens next
In its earlier order of September 28, the Bench had directed both sides to complete all pleadings within four weeks, after which the ECI was to be given three months to decide the controversy. Under the ECI's interim arrangement for the West Bengal by-elections, the Mamata Banerjee-led faction was allotted the name 'Mamata All India Trinamool Congress' and the 'football player' symbol, while the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction was allotted the name 'Democratic Trinamool Congress' and the 'envelope' symbol, Nation Press reported.
ANI reports also said the Bench disposed of a writ petition by Trinamool MLA Sohandeb Chattopadhyay of the Mamata Banerjee-led faction seeking expeditious disposal of disqualification petitions filed against 10 MLAs of the rival faction, after expressing hope in September that the West Bengal Assembly Speaker would decide those petitions within a reasonable time. The name-and-symbol question itself now rests with the Election Commission once the extended pleadings are complete. (Sources: IANS via Hi India; ANI via DevDiscourse; Nation Press; The CSR Journal)