The Calcutta high court has dismissed a Trinamool Congress (TMC) plea for an interim order on West Bengal assembly speaker Rathindra Nath Bose's decision recognising expelled party leader Ritabrata Banerjee as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP).
Justice Krishna Rao said the court did not find any prima facie case or a balance of convenience in the TMC's prayer for an interim order.
The court had reserved its order on TMC legislator Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay's petition challenging Bose's June 3 decision, directing all parties to file affidavits as the court will hear the plea after three weeks.
The TMC has been facing a crisis since it lost power in West Bengal last month after 15 years, expelling two of its 78 legislators, Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, before 57 of them rebelled and backed Banerjee as the LoP.
Twenty rebel TMC parliamentarians proposed merging with the little-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India, boosting the ruling coalition's numbers in the Lok Sabha.
Three of the TMC's 13 Rajya Sabha members have also resigned.
The high court's decision is seen as a moral victory for Banerjee and Saha, who have been fighting for recognition as the opposition party and LoP.
