Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said a decision on the disqualification notices to 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs would be expedited once their responses were received, but did not give a timeframe.
Birla, however, indicated that no further extension would be granted to the MPs after their plea for a fourth extension to respond to the notices expires on November 3.
Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee filed petitions with the Speaker and sought disqualification of their membership under the anti-defection law after 20 party MPs claimed to have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), an NDA ally, in June.
The 20 MPs had petitioned the Speaker, seeking approval of the merger.
The Speaker noted the matter was also under consideration of the Supreme Court.
“The issue is before the Supreme Court and also before me. Procedure has to be followed in such cases. The MPs’ replies are awaited. Once they are received, the process would be expedited,” Birla said in a response to a question during a
media address.
Birla, however, refused to set a timeframe or fix a date for deciding the issue.
During an informal chat with the media later, he indicated the 20 MPs would not be given any extension to respond to the notices.
The Lok Sabha Speaker was addressing the media over the two-day BRICS Parliamentary Forum to be held in Delhi on October 26-27.