The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs on a plea by party leader Abhishek Banerjee challenging the delay by the Lok Sabha speaker in deciding the disqualification petitions he has filed against the legislators, Live Law reported.A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana did not issue notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is the main respondent in the case, Bar and Bench reported.On June 14, TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar announced that 20 of the party’s 28 Lok Sabha MPs would merge with the Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India and support the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lower House of Parliament.The MPs rebelled against the TMC leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee following the party’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections.In response, TMC’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Abhishek Banerjee, had on June 19 submitted petitions to Birla demanding that the 20 rebel MPs be disqualified on the grounds of leaving the party. He had argued that the 10th Schedule of the Constitution was clear that if a member voluntarily gives up the party’s membership, they are to be disqualified as MPs.Citing the 10th Schedule, Abhishek Banerjee had also contended that the merger can be considered valid only if two-thirds of a political party, not the legislature party, merges into another party.The Nationalist Citizens Party of India did not have any MPs before the merger.Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament in July, Birla accepted the request of the rebel MPs to sit separately in the Lok Sabha chamber. However, the speaker has not yet recognised the group as the Nationalist Citizens Party of India in the House.The bench had initially issued notice to Birla. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the speaker, argued that there was no need to issue notice to him as he is a constitutional authority, The Hindu reported.In response, Bagchi stated that the speaker acts as a tribunal while deciding disqualification petitions under the 10th Schedule.Mehta said he was personally present in court to represent the speaker and urged the court not to issue formal notice. The court accepted his submission.The solicitor general also told the court that Birla had issued notices to the 20 MPs on the disqualification petitions filed by TMC under the anti-defection law, Live Law reported.In response, Bagchi said: “It is not a question of issuing notices, it is a question of concluding the proceedings within a time frame.”When Abhishek Banerjee questioned why notice had not been issued to the speaker, the court asked whether he was interested in adjudication of the matter or in the issuance of notice, Bar and Bench reported.Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.