- Calcutta High Court allowed Ritabrata Banerjee to continue as Leader of Opposition for now.
- Division bench directed a single bench to decide the challenge within two months.
- TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay has challenged the Speaker’s decision.
- Single bench had earlier declined to grant interim relief.
GG News Bureau
Kolkata, 18th Aug: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday allowed rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA Ritabrata Banerjee to continue as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly until a single bench decides a petition challenging his appointment.
A division bench comprising Justices Shampa Sarkar and Ajay Kumar Gupta passed the interim order while hearing an appeal against an earlier decision of a single bench.
The division bench directed the single bench to dispose of the petition within two months.
The petition was filed by Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, a TMC MLA aligned with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, challenging Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose’s decision to appoint Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition.
Earlier, on June 18, a single bench of the Calcutta High Court had refused to grant any interim relief against the Speaker’s decision. Aggrieved by that order, Chattopadhyay moved the division bench seeking intervention.
With the latest order, Ritabrata Banerjee will continue to function as the Leader of Opposition until the single bench delivers its verdict on the legality of his appointment.
The case pertains to the challenge against the Speaker’s decision to reject Chattopadhyay’s claim and recognise Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly.
