The Calcutta High Court on Thursday disqualified Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy from the West Bengal Assembly for defecting from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bar and Bench reported.

A division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Mohammad Shabbar Rashidi also set aside Roy’s nomination as the chairman of the public accounts committee of the state Assembly.

The public accounts committee audits the revenue and expenditure of the government. Rules mandate that the panel should be headed by a legislator of the main Opposition party.

In June 2021, Roy defected to the Trinamool Congress months after winning the Krishnanagar Uttar Assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.

Roy was one of the earliest members of the Trinamool Congress when it was founded in 1997, but joined the BJP in 2017. However, soon after the Trinamool Congress returned to power in the state in May 2021, Roy defected to the party.

The BJP has been demanding Roy’s disqualification as a legislator since he was made the chairman of the public accounts committee in July 2021.

On Thursday, the court also set aside an earlier order by Speaker Biman Banerjee, where he had refused to act on a disqualification petition filed by the BJP, Live Law reported.

State Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP MLA Ambika Roy had approached the High Court challenging Banerjee’s decision, claiming that there was a press conference to prove Roy had defected.

However, state Advocate General Kishore Datta, appearing for Banerjee, argued that no certificate was filed with regard to the news reports, Bar and Bench reported.

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