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The Supreme Court on Monday extended the time for both factions to file affidavits before the Election Commission in connection with their claims over the Trinamool Congress (TMC) name and the grass-and-flowers election symbol.
The Supreme Court granted the Rituraj Banerjee faction 10 days to file its response. The Mamata Banerjee faction of the TMC was also granted 10 days to respond to the affidavit filed by the Rituraj Banerjee faction. Monday was the last date for filing responses before the Election Commission. The rebel faction, led by Rituraj Banerjee, had sought a two-week extension from the Supreme Court to file its response before the Election Commission. The Mamata Banerjee faction opposed the request. During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court had directed the Election Commission to decide the issue within three months. During the West Bengal by-election, the Election Commission had allotted temporary names and symbols to both factions. The Mamata Banerjee faction was allotted the name Mamata TMC and the football player symbol, while the rebel faction was allotted the name Democratic TMC and the envelope symbol. Earlier in September, the Supreme Court expressed hope that the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly would decide in a reasonable time the disqualification petitions filed against 10 MLAs of the Ritabrata Banerjee faction for alleged defection under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana disposed of a writ petition filed by Trinamool Congress MLA Sohandeb Chattopadhyay (Mamata Banerjee-led faction), seeking expeditious disposal of the disqualification petitions. The bench referred to its judgment in Keisham Meghachandra Singh v/s Speaker, Manipur Legislative Assembly, which held that disqualification petitions should ordinarily be decided within a reasonable period, indicated to be around three months. The disqualification petitions in the present case were filed on July 8. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chattopadhyay, submitted that there was a pattern of delay in deciding disqualification petitions, with breakaway factions subsequently claiming to be the real political party. The petitions seek disqualification of Arup Roy, Ritabrata Banerjee, Firad Hakim, Sandipan Saha, Seuli Saha, Akrhruzzaman, Sabina Yeasmin, Rathin Ghosh, Biplab Mitra and Javed Ahmad Khan. (ANI)
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