The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to twenty rebel Trinamool Congress MPs over a disqualification plea filed by the party's general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee. The court is seeking an expedited decision on the petitions that have been pending before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for some time. Although the Speaker was listed as the first respondent, no notice was issued to him. During the hearing, the court considered issuing a notice to Birla but Solicitor General Tushar Mehta intervened and stated that the Speaker had already issued notices on the disqualification petitions. The court clarified that it aims to ensure timely action from the constitutional authority rather than passing orders against them. The twenty MPs named in Banerjee's petition include Sayani Ghosh, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and others. These leaders won assembly elections this year on a Trinamool Congress ticket but later defected to the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) shortly after the results were announced in May. The rebel camp is seeking recognition as a separate group in the Lok Sabha and was allotted separate seats during the recent Monsoon session proceedings. The Trinamool Congress has sought the disqualification of these MPs under the anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule of the Constitution). Banerjee had earlier submitted separate disqualification petitions before Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and urged for their swift dismissal. Besides the 20 rebel MPs, the Trinamool Congress' petition names the Lok Sabha Secretary General as another respondent.