Mukul Roy is still in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal legislative assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee ruled on Friday, dismissing the petition that leader of the opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had filed seeking Roy’s disqualification as legislator under anti-defection law.
On January 17, the Supreme Court asked Banerjee to decide on the disqualification petition in two weeks. The petition was filed before the Speaker shortly after Roy was seen returning to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on June 11 last year.
The BJP had moved the Calcutta high court alleging that the Speaker was delaying the hearing.
The Speaker filed an appeal before the Supreme Court through senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi challenging an order the high court passed on September 28 last year, asking him to produce the decision taken on the appeal for Roy’s disqualification.
The high court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by BJP legislator Ambika Roy who challenged Roy’s nomination as chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on July 9, two days before he returned to the TMC. Mukul Roy was subsequently declared the PAC chairman by the Speaker.
His lawyers told the Speaker during the last hearing on January 19 that he is still in the BJP and he never joined the ruling party. To counter this, Adhikari furnished videos and social media posts as evidence before the Speaker.
{{/usCountry}}His lawyers told the Speaker during the last hearing on January 19 that he is still in the BJP and he never joined the ruling party. To counter this, Adhikari furnished videos and social media posts as evidence before the Speaker.
{{/usCountry}}“The petitioner has not been able to establish the complaint,” Biman Banerjee said on Friday, adding that the evidences were not substantive enough to prove that Roy joined the TMC violating anti-defection law.
TMC leaders did not want to comment on Friday’s development, saying the Speaker’s decision is final in such matters. Going a step ahead, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh demanded that Roy should be interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Saradha and Narada case in which he is an accused.
“Why is BJP leader Mukul Roy being shielded? He should be interrogated,” Ghosh said.
BJP leaders called the Speaker’s verdict a face.
“What we saw today has not happened ever in any part of India. The hearing was a farce. No respect was shown to the values of parliamentary democracy,” said Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.
Roy, who is a founder member of the TMC, was a national vice-president in the BJP which he joined in 2017 following differences with chief minister Mamata Banerjee. His son, Subhranshu, also joined the saffron camp but returned to the TMC with his father in June last year.
Mukul Roy, who is ailing, has not attended any public meeting in several months. He was not available for comment on Friday.
In January, when the disqualification petition was being heard by the Speaker, Roy’s lawyers pleaded that he never left the BJP. They argued that Roy’s visit to the TMC headquarters - where he was greeted by Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek on June 11 in the presence of the media - was a mere courtesy call. The lawyers cited the judgements of several courts to back their argument.
Roy contested and won the Krishnanagar North assembly seat on a BJP ticket in the March-April polls last year. His son also contested on a BJP ticket but lost.
Adhikari, who earlier said that he has very little faith in the judgement of the speaker, did not answer phone calls on Friday.