"Rival TMC Faction Secured Greatest Numerical Strength": Calcutta HC Refuses Stay On Appointment Of Ritabrata Banerjee As LoP

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to grant interim relief to senior Trinamool Congress leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay in his challenge to the appointment of a rival faction leader, Ritabrata Banerjee, as the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, holding that no prima facie case had been made out for an injunction. (2026 LiveLaw (Cal) 251)Justice Krishna Rao observed that a majority of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) legislature party had supported the rival claimant before the Speaker and that the resolution relied upon by Chattopadhyay was itself under a cloud owing to allegations of forged signatures, which are presently the subject of a police investigation. The Court held that these circumstances disentitled the petitioner from interim protection."This Court did not find any prima facie case and balance of convenience and inconvenience in favour of the petitioner for grant of interim order as prayed for by the petitioner, accordingly, interim order is refused."BackgroundSobhandeb Chattopadhyay, an elected MLA from Ballygunge, claimed that he had been unanimously nominated as Leader of Opposition at a meeting of the AITC legislature party held on May 6, 2026, and that the party's National General Secretary had formally communicated his name to the Speaker.However, before the Speaker could act on the recommendation, objections were raised by certain MLAs alleging that several signatures on the resolution were forged. Following a preliminary verification, the Speaker's office lodged a police complaint, leading to registration of an FIR.Subsequently, 58 of the 80 AITC MLAs submitted a joint representation before the Speaker supporting another leader as Leader of Opposition. Although the leader was later expelled from the party's primary membership, he challenged the expulsion before a civil court and obtained an interim stay.Chattopadhyay then approached the High Court seeking to restrain the newly recognised Leader of Opposition and Chief Whip from functioning pending disposal of the writ petition.Court's observationsThe Court noted that serious disputes surrounded the resolution relied upon by the petitioner.It observed that while the AITC's National General Secretary had forwarded a resolution recommending Chattopadhyay's appointment, objections regarding the authenticity of signatures prompted the Speaker's office to verify the documents and refer the matter to the police for investigation.Justice Rao further took note of the fact that 58 out of the 80 elected AITC legislators had subsequently approached the Speaker claiming majority support for the rival claimant and that 56 of them had personally appeared before the Speaker.Emphasising the statutory scheme governing recognition of the Leader of Opposition, the Court observed:"As per the said provision, the party in opposition having the greatest numerical strength at the material time, such party shall decide the Leader of Opposition. In the case in hand, out of 80 elected members of the Legislative Assembly set up by AITC, 58 members secured greatest numerical strength by submitting their joint request and appearing before the Speaker in person. The Resolution submitted by the National General Secretary of the AITC... is in dispute."The Court also recorded that the Speaker had considered not only the dispute regarding the signatures but also the fact that the expulsion of the rival claimant had itself been stayed by a civil court.Referring to the Speaker's order, the Court observed:"The Speaker has conducted enquiry and found that the resolution submitted by the National General Secretary of the AITC... there is dispute with regard to the signatures appearing in the said resolution and the notice of expulsion... is also under challenge."Petitioner's reliance on Supreme Court judgmentChattopadhyay relied heavily on the Supreme Court's decision in Subhash Desai v. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra, contending that under the Tenth Schedule, the political party—not merely a majority of legislators—has primacy in matters concerning leadership and whips.The Court reproduced the Supreme Court's observations that the distinction between a "political party" and a "legislature party" is fundamental under the Tenth Schedule and that the Schedule would become unworkable if the two expressions were treated interchangeably.Despite these submissions, the Court held that the factual disputes surrounding the party resolution, the pending criminal investigation into the alleged forged signatures, the majority support demonstrated before the Speaker, and the interim stay against the expulsion of the rival leader collectively prevented the petitioner from establishing a prima facie case for interim protection.Accordingly, the Court refused to stay the functioning of the newly recognised Leader of Opposition and Chief Whip.The respondents have been directed to file their affidavits within three weeks, with the matter...

"Rival TMC Faction Secured Greatest Numerical Strength": Calcutta HC Refuses Stay On Appointment Of Ritabrata Banerjee As LoP

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"Rival TMC Faction Secured Greatest Numerical Strength": Calcutta HC Refuses Stay On Appointment Of Ritabrata Banerjee As LoP

Srinjoy Das

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