The hearing on the Trinamool Congress leadership dispute petition wrapped up at the Calcutta High Court. The challenge was against the appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition by the West Bengal Assembly Speaker. The judgment is reserved by the division bench of Justice Sampa Sarkar and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupat.
Sovandab Chattopadhyay, representing the minority faction, initially contested the Speaker’s decision before Justice Krishna Rao. However, the decision was upheld last month, designating Ritabrata Banerjee as the official Leader of the Opposition. Chattopadhyay then escalated the challenge to the division bench of Justice Sarkar and Justice Gupta.
During the hearing, the Additional Advocate General of West Bengal, speaking for the Speaker, highlighted that 58 out of 80 Trinamool Congress legislators supported Ritabrata Banerjee’s appointment. In response, the petitioner’s counsel, Kalyan Banerjee, argued that the Speaker’s decision to appoint Ritabrata Banerjee without considering the nomination of Sovandeb Chattopadhyay was unjust and illegal. Banerjee sought a stay on the previous order and the Speaker’s decision to be overturned.
