Top court sets one-month deadline for Cal HC to decide on Mukul Roy’s PAC tenure

A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai allowed Adhikari to approach the high court which is already considering a plea by another BJP MLA Ambika Roy challenging Mukul Roy’s appointment as Chairman of the public accounts committee (PAC).

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari to approach the Calcutta high court challenging the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Speaker’s decision rejecting his plea to disqualify member of legislative assembly (MLA) Mukul Roy for defecting from BJP to the ruling All India Trinamool Congress party.

The Calcutta high court is already considering a plea by another BJP MLA Ambika Roy challenging Mukul Roy’s appointment as Chairman of the public accounts committee (PAC). (PTI PHOTO.)

Adhikari had moved a fresh petition in the top court challenging the February 11 order passed by the Speaker rejecting the disqualification plea against Roy. A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai allowed Adhikari to approach the high court which is already considering a plea by another BJP MLA Ambika Roy challenging Mukul Roy’s appointment as Chairman of the public accounts committee (PAC).

The Court told the high court to take up both the matters together and directed that the matter be taken up expeditiously. In the petition filed by Ambika Roy, the WB Assembly Speaker and Assembly Secretary had filed appeals against a September 28 order passed by the HC directing the Speaker to take a decision on a plea against Mukul Roy’s PAC appointment and place the decision before it.

The top court disposed these appeals too and requested the high court to decide the petition expeditiously, and not later than within a period of one month, considering the fact that the one-year tenure of Roy as PAC Chairman is due to expire in next four months.

The disqualification plea against Roy was filed by Adhikari in June last year. Adhikari in his petition filed through advocate Surjendu Sankar Das said, “The order dated February 11 (by the Speaker) is wholly perverse and has been passed without any application of mind.” Adhikari, who is the leader of opposition in the Assembly, said that the video footage and screenshots of events that substantiated his allegation were dismissed by the Speaker as “inadmissible”.