Calcutta HC seeks Assembly affidavit on Ritabrata Banerjee's appointment as LoP

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday sought an affidavit from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in connection with the appointment of rebel Trinamool Congress MLA Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition. The matter came before Justice Krishna Rao, who questioned why the notification recognizing Ritabrata Banerjee for the post had not been made public if the Speaker had already assigned him the responsibility.

During the hearing, Justice Rao observed that a public notification should ordinarily be available if the Speaker had formally recognized an individual as the Leader of the Opposition. The court sought the Assembly's response on the issue and directed that affidavits be filed before the next stage of proceedings.

Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee requested the court to restrain the Assembly from making any fresh seat allocations before the commencement of the next Assembly session on June 18. The court, however, declined to pass any immediate interim order, stating that such a direction could be considered after affidavits were submitted and all parties were heard. The matter is scheduled to be taken up again next Tuesday.

The dispute stems from a petition filed on June 8 by Trinamool Congress MLA Shovandeb Chattopadhyay challenging the decision to recognize Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition. According to the petition, the party had officially proposed Shovandeb Chattopadhyay for the position. Subsequently, allegations emerged that signatures of several legislators on a letter supporting his candidature had been forged. The allegations were brought to the Speaker's notice by MLAs Ritabrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha.