Mukul Roy's Appointment As PAC Chairman Breaches Constitutional Convention : BJP MLA Ambika Roy Argues Before Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday heard extensive arguments from Senior Advocate C.S Vaidyanathan appearing on behalf of BJP MLA Ambika Roy in the plea moved by her challenging the appointment of TMC MLA Mukul Roy as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

On July 9, Mukul Roy had been appointed as the Chairman of PAC by the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the year 2021-2022. The plea filed before the Court had contended that on June 11, without officially resigning from the BJP or as the MLA of Krishnanagar Uttar constituency, Mukul Roy had defected to the TMC party on June 11, 2021.

Senior counsel C.S Vaidyanathan submitted before the Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj that there exists a healthy tradition for the last 54 years wherein the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly always appoints a Member of the Opposition as the PAC Chairman. This practice is in line with 'constitutional morality' and thus such a constitutional convention has been breached in the instant case, the senior counsel alleged. 

The petitioner also submitted before the Court that pursuant to existing constitutional convention and the relevant Rules of Procedure, the Speaker of the Assembly should have selected the PAC Chairman from amongst the 6 BJP MLAs who had been elected to be a part of the Public Accounts Committee.

"Power to be exercised by the Speaker must not be arbitrary", senior counsel Vaidyanathan contended. 

It was also brought to the notice of the Court that on June 17 a disqualification petition had been moved before the Speaker by BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari against Mukul Roy on the grounds of defection under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. This disqualification petition is still pending before the Speaker, senior counsel Vaidyanathan contended. Furthermore, the petitioner alleged that on June 24 at the time of filing his nomination papers for Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee, Mukul Roy had not disclosed his party affiliation. 

The senior counsel further argued that the assumption made by the Speaker that Mukul Roy was a member of the BJP at the time of appointing him as the PAC Chairman is  'wholly unwarranted'. This is because the Speaker was well aware that a disqualification petition had been filed against Mukul Roy and was pending consideration by the Speaker, the petitioner alleged. Furthermore, the Court was also apprised that Mukul Roy's name had been recommended by a TMC MLA for membership of PAC thus clearly indicating his alleged defection to the TMC party. 

The Bench on Thursday took on record the reply filed by BJP MLA Ambika Ray to the affidavit in opposition filed by the West Bengal government. The Bench also directed that all affidavits and replies filed must be served upon all the counsels appearing for the concerned parties before the next date of hearing. 

Opposing an indefinite delay in hearing the disqualification petition moved against Mukul Roy before the Speaker, senior counsel Vaidyanathan placed reliance on the Supreme Court judgment in Keisham Meghachandra Singh v The Hon'ble Speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly wherein it was held that Speaker of the Legislative Assembly should decide on a petition seeking disqualification of a member under Tenth Schedule of the Constitution within a period of 3 months, in the absence of exceptional reasons.

However, in response the Bench remarked that it could not pass any orders to this effect as the matter was pending adjudication before the Speaker and not the High Court. 

The matter is slated to be heard next on September 6 for further arguments. 

Case Title: Ambika Roy v. The Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly and Ors