However, in a fresh turn of events, Governor C V Ananda Bose has written to the two MLAs, telling them that their oath was an instance of “constitutional impropriety”, and therefore if they would take part in Assembly proceedings or vote in the House, they would have to pay a fine of Rs 500 per day.
The MLAs received the letter on Monday as the Assembly convened for the 10-day session.
In the letter, the Governor contended that he had assigned Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee to administer the oath to the new MLAs, but instead Speaker Biman Banerjee presided over the swearing-in ceremony. When the Constitutional head of the state designated someone to administer the oath to the MLAs, the Speaker had no jurisdiction in the matter, the letter said.
Soon after the two MLAs took oath on July 5, the Governor had written a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, calling the swearing-in ceremony a “violation of the Constitution”.
“A report is being sent to the Hon’ble President about the Constitutional impropriety of the Speaker in ‘administering’ the oath or affirmation to the two newly elected MLAs. This Constitutional transgression has been done in spite of Hon’ble Governor appointing Deputy Speaker as the person before whom the two newly elected MLAs shall make and subscribe an oath or affirmation,” the Raj Bhavan had posted on X soon after Sayantika and Sarkar were sworn in.
Citing Article 193 of the Constitution, Governor Bose on Monday said, “The Speaker has no power to administer oath as I had deputed the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath to the new MLAs. As their oath taking is not legal, they can face consequences like a daily fine of Rs 500 for attending the Assembly.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sayantika Banerjee, the TMC MLA from Baranagar, said: “We received this letter today (Monday). We do not know what to do. We met the Speaker and showed him the mail. He will take a decision.”
“We understand we have no problem in attending the session as elected representatives after taking oath in the temple of democracy – the state legislature,” she added.
Asked if she would pay the fine, Sayantika said, “Why should I? Have we done anything illegal or improper?”
The fresh row comes as four more TMC MLAs, who were elected in the just concluded bypolls, are likely be administered oath on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Speaker said, “As per convention and under Article 188 of the Constitution, the four newly elected members, who won in the recent by-elections, will be sworn in by me.”
The swearing-in will take place in the Assembly before the House resumes at 1 pm on Tuesday, he added.
The bypolls were necessitated as sitting MLAs Krishna Kalyani from Raiganj, Biswajit Das from Bagdah, and Mukut Mani Adhikari from Ranaghat Dakshin resigned from their seats to contest the Lok Sabha elections. The by-election in Maniktala was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Sadhan Pandey in 2022.
Kalyani, Adhikari, Sadhan Pandey’s widow Supti Pandey and Madhuparna Thakur were elected from Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Maniktala and Bagda seats, respectively in the July 10 bypolls. “We had written to the Speaker expressing our wish to be administered the oath by him in the Assembly as per the Constitutional provisions and precedents,” Supti Pandey said.
The face-off between the Trinamool Congress government and Governor Bose over the swearing-in ceremony began in the second week of June after the Governor asked the two MLAs to come to the Raj Bhavan for the oath ceremony and they refused.
The Governor, who normally assigns either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker to administer the oath to the legislators, sent an invitation to the MLAs to take oath at the Raj Bhavan on June 26. However, the letter reportedly did not mention who would administer the oath.
This led the TMC to announce that it would not attend the swearing-in ceremony. “It is insulting to a people’s representative. The letter (from Raj Bhavan) only mentioned that a person who will be selected by the Governor will administer the oath. This is unprecedented in a democratic system. We will not attend the ceremony,” state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also launched a scathing attack against the Governor for the delay in the oath. “The two legislators have been elected by people’s mandate. What right does the Governor have to stop them from taking the oath? It has been almost a month that uncertainties are shrouding the issue,” Banerjee had then said.
On July 4, Governor Bose authorised Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee to administer the oath in the Assembly, retracting his earlier stance that the MLAs would be sworn in at Raj Bhavan. However, during the one-day special session, Deputy Speaker Asish Banerjee declined to administer the oath, citing that it would be inappropriate in the presence of the Speaker. Eventually, the Speaker administered the oath to the two MLAs.