Trinamool Congress councillors on Friday moved an appeal before a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, challenging a single bench order that set aside a no-confidence motion brought by the party against the chairman of Bhatpara Municipality.
The division bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Protik Prakash Banerjee directed that the matter would be taken up for hearing on Monday.
The no-confidence motion against BJP chairman Sourav Singh was passed by a margin of 19-0 in th
e 35-member civic body on Thursday, as other councillors were not present during the proceedings.
The single bench, however, declared that the meeting called on January 2 for moving the no-confidence motion as “null and void”.
Lawyers for the TMC councillors moved the division bench in the morning, praying for an urgent hearing, but the court refused to take up the appeal, stating that it would need a copy of the single bench order and the plea has to be filed in the high court registry.
The counsel then obtained a copy of the single bench order later in the day and filed a petition before the division bench, which then directed that the appeal moved by three TMC councillors of Bhatpara Municipality would be taken up for hearing on Monday.
After hearing a writ petition by a BJP member of the civic body, challenging the notice issued by the three TMC councillors for a meeting to move a no-confidence motion against Singh, Justice Arindam Sinha on Thursday said “any action taken pursuant thereto is of no consequence.”
The Bhatpara Municipality chairman had convened a meeting on January 20 for bringing the no-confidence motion.
However, TMC councillors refused to wait till then and issued a notice on December 30 for holding the meeting on January 2.
The BJP petitioner argued that councillors cannot issue such a notice on their own, as it was against the state municipal laws.
Equations had changed in the civic body last year, with 26 TMC councillors switching over to the BJP following the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP MP Arjun Singh, who was earlier the chairman of the Trinamool Congress-run board, resigned and his nephew Sourav Singh took charge in June.
Over the past few months, however, most the defectors returned to the ruling party, following which the TMC councillors moved a no-confidence motion against the chairman.
