HC disqualifies Mukul Roy as MLA under Anti-Defection Law
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday disqualified senior politician Mukul Roy from the West Bengal Assembly under the Anti-Defection Law, stripping him of his MLA status more than three years after he switched sides. A Division Bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi held that Roy, elected on a BJP ticket from Krishnanagar Uttar in 2021, had incurred disqualification after joining the Trinamool Congress barely a month later.
Lawyers at the High Court stated that this is the first instance in India of a High Court invoking its Constitutional powers to directly disqualify a sitting legislator under the anti-defection framework introduced by the 52nd Amendment in 1985.
The verdict leaves the Krishnanagar Uttar Constituency technically vacant, although officials indicated that a by-election is improbable, given that Assembly elections are due early next year.
The petitions were filed by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and BJP MLA Ambika Roy. Adhikari had challenged Speaker Biman Banerjee’s rejection of his plea seeking Roy’s disqualification, arguing that Roy’s public induction into the TMC in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee clearly amounted to defection. Ambika Roy separately contested Roy’s appointment as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in 2021, pointing out that the post is traditionally reserved for the Opposition and that the BJP had never nominated him after his crossover.
Calling the judgment a “triumph of truth and dharma”, Adhikari’s counsel said the ruling marked a watershed in anti-defection jurisprudence. Adhikari described the outcome as a “victory of the Constitution” and signalled further action, warning that three other MLAs who shifted to the TMC—Tanmay Ghosh, Tapasi Mondal and Suman Kanjilal—would face similar challenges. He also criticised the Speaker’s initial decisions, questioning his neutrality. Responding to the BJP’s claims, TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty accused Adhikari of “political hypocrisy”, citing defections involving members of his own family and alleging that the BJP itself benefited from similar shifts in states such as Goa and Maharashtra.
