Anti-defection law under spotlight amid Bengal political tussle

BJP MLA MUKUL ROY RETURNED TO TMC ON JUNE 11, 2 SITTING TMC MPS, SISIR ADHIKARI AND SUNIL MANDAL, JOINED THE BJP AHEAD OF STATE ELECTIONS

NEW DELHI: The demand for removal of an MLA and two MPs, all from West Bengal, from their respective legislative bodies has triggered the latest round of the political battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress, bringing the focus back on the country’s anti-defection laws.

BJP MLA Mukul Roy returned to the Trinamool Congress (which he left in 2017) on June 11, and the leader of the opposition in the Bengal assembly, the BJP’s Suvendhu Adhikari, himself a TMC man till December, has vowed to take the legal route if Roy doesn’t resign. Meanwhile, two sitting Trinamool MPs, Sisir Adhikari (Suvendu’s father) and Sunil Mandal joined the BJP from the TMC just ahead of the assembly election but are yet to resign as lawmakers.

The rules for the disqualification of defectors is laid down in the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It says, a lawmaker shall be disqualified, “if he has voluntarily given up his membership of such a political party” or “if he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the political party to which he belongs”.

The BJP and Trinamool’s arguments, demanding the resignation of Ray, Mandal and Adhikari from their respective legislatures, lies primarily under the clause 2(a) of the tenth schedule-- “if he has voluntarily given up his membership of such a political party”.

Abhishek Singhvi, the Congress’ top legal expert, said, “There is certainly going to be a legal battle ahead. Knee-jerk verdicts should not be attempted by the BJP or anyone else. The Tenth Schedule has to lead to detailed adjudication if and after a complaint is filed and the speaker hears all sides.”

The decision to expel a lawmaker under the law is within the powers of the speaker-- in this case the speaker of the West Bengal Assembly, Biman Bandopadhyay and the speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla.

The speaker’s role in defection cases has become crucial as well as controversial. In 2019, the Supreme Court said there is a growing trend of speakers “acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral”; this was in a case where it upheld the disqualification of 17 rebel Karnataka MLAs who pulled down the JDS-Congress government. In recent years, there has been a growing demand from the speakers themselves to redefine and perhaps limit their powers under the anti-defection laws.

According to a member of the TMC, Roy is unlikely to resign, and wants to fight it out with the BJP. TMC functionaries said that its Lok Sabha floor leader Sudip Bandopadhyay spoke to Birla to appeal for the disqualification of Adhikari and Mandal. “Birla told us that he will soon form a committee to decide the issue.”