Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Thursday, November 5, dismissed a petition filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay that sought a direction to the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to decide the disqualification proceedings against 10 rebel TMC MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee. A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi held that the appropriate course at this stage was for the petitioner to approach the Calcutta High Court, and dismissed the petition, W.P.(C) No. 1419/2026, with liberty to file an appropriate plea before the High Court.

Source: The Bar Bulletin

This is a new development in a case this desk has followed since the filing stage: the disqualification petitions were first filed on July 8, 2026 under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, and Chattopadhyay moved the Supreme Court on October 22 after nearly five months passed without a decision from Speaker Rathindra Bose. The Supreme Court had earlier, on September 28, given the Speaker time until October 8 to decide the petitions.

Source: Fact News (PTI-style report)

The 10 MLAs named in the disqualification petitions are Ritabrata Banerjee, Firhad Hakim, Arup Roy, Sandipan Saha, Akhruzzaman Ansari, Shiuli Saha, Sabina Yasmin, Biplab Mitra, Javed Khan and Rathin Ghosh. The MLAs had left the Trinamool Congress after the Assembly elections and formed a separate faction called 'Democratic Trinamool', according to reports of Thursday's hearing.

Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitions had been pending since July and sought the constitution of a Division Bench, arguing that part of the issue was covered by an earlier Supreme Court judgment. The counsel also pointed out that the Calcutta High Court was on a break until November 11. The Bench, however, observed that it was not possible to conduct a hearing so urgently and that recourse to the High Court was the appropriate step at this stage.

Source: Fact News (PTI-style report)

"We request the Chief Justice to place the matter before a Division Bench, which shall decide the matter expeditiously," the court said, according to the order summary. What happens next: Chattopadhyay is expected to file a fresh petition before the Calcutta High Court, where a Division Bench is expected to take up the question of whether the Speaker must decide the disqualification petitions, and by when.

Source: The Bar Bulletin