High Court won’t halt Bengal Speaker’s Ritabrata LoP appointment
The Calcutta High Court refused to block the West Bengal Speaker’s decision to appoint Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition, with the case to be heard further by a division bench within two months. The development follows a sequence of petitions, expulsions, and party splits within the Trinamo
Key takeaways
- The High Court did not grant interim relief against the Speaker’s LoP appointment and will have a division bench review within two months.
- Ritabrata Banerjee was appointed as Leader of Opposition on June 3 with the support of a majority of MLAs, amid a broader party split over the designation.
- A petition challenging the appointment was filed by Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who was nominated as LoP by Mamata Banerjee earlier in the process.
What Happened
The Calcutta High Court, in a ruling on Tuesday, declined to intervene in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose’s appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition. A division bench ordered that the related case be decided by the single-judge bench of Krishna Rao within two months. Earlier, the court had refused to grant an interim stay on the Speaker’s order after a petition challenging the appointment was filed by Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who had been nominated as LoP by Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee.
The Trinamool Congress won a majority in the assembly, securing eighty of the total seats. On May 9, the general secretary of the party, Abhishek Banerjee, had sent a letter nominating Chattopadhyay as LoP. Subsequently, Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha contended that their signatures on that letter were forged, and Ritabrata Banerjee and Saha were expelled from the party following formal complaints. Ritabrata Banerjee was appointed LoP on June 3 with the support of fifty-eight MLAs, and the LoP has since claimed backing from more than sixty-five MLAs in the 80-member house. The court noted that the Speaker’s order was temporary and that inviting both parties before making the decision would have been preferable, though no interim relief could be granted to maintain order in the House.
The petition challenged Ritabrata Banerjee’s appointment, and the matter continues to be adjudicated by the courts.
Why It Matters
The ruling preserves the Speaker’s appointment for now, delaying a final judicial determination on the legitimacy of Ritabrata Banerjee’s LoP status. The decision underscores ongoing disputes within the Trinamool Congress regarding leadership roles in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, potentially affecting how opposition business is conducted in the House while the case proceeds.
Background
The petition opposing Ritabrata Banerjee’s appointment was brought by Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, who was nominated by Mamata Banerjee as LoP. Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha were expelled from the party after they protested the nomination’s process, with later assertions about forged signatures on the nomination letter. The party’s general secretary had earlier nominated Chattopadhyay, and the Speaker appointed Ritabrata Banerjee as LoP in June with the support of a majority of MLAs in the party’s fold, contributing to a split within the Trinamool legislative faction over the LoP designation.
Key Facts
- August 18, 2026: Calcutta High Court division bench refused to stay the Speaker’s appointment of Ritabrata Banerjee as LoP and remanded the case to a single judge to decide within two months.
- The Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is Rathindra Bose.
- Ritabrata Banerjee’s appointment as LoP occurred on June 3 amid support from 58 MLAs; he later claimed support from more than 65 of the 80 MLAs in the assembly.
- Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay filed the petition challenging the appointment; he was nominated by Mamata Banerjee as LoP earlier in the process.
- The Trinamool Congress won 80 of the 294 seats in the West Bengal Assembly in the most recent election referenced in the material.
- The court indicated the Speaker should have invited both parties before deciding, but found no interim relief could be granted to maintain order in the House at that moment.
What Happens Next
The division bench directed the original single-judge bench to dispose of the case within two months, continuing the judicial review of Ritabrata Banerjee’s LoP appointment.
Sources reviewed
Project Chintan independently synthesized and analyzed information cross-checked across the sources listed above.
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