# Calcutta HC allows rebel TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee to remain LoP 2026-08-18T15:11:40+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets The Calcutta High Court division bench on Tuesday declined to grant interim relief to the Trinamool Congress in its challenge to rebel MLA Ritabrata Banerjee's appointment as Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly. The bench of Justices Shampa Sarkar and Ajay Kumar Gupta ordered that Banerjee will continue in the post until a single judge decides the matter afresh within two months. The case was filed by TMC MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, a Mamata Banerjee loyalist whose name had been proposed by the party for the LoP post. Assembly Speaker Rathindra Bose rejected Chattopadhyay's nomination and appointed Banerjee instead. A single bench had earlier declined to stay the Speaker's decision on June 18. Rebel MLAs backing Banerjee have alleged their signatures were forged on a May 6 letter proposing Chattopadhyay's name, a case being investigated by Bengal police CID. Banerjee claimed 65 of 80 TMC MLAs are with him. The single bench must now decide the challenge within two months. ## Indian Opinion Analysis India Today and Times of India both lead with the division bench's refusal of interim relief, framing it as a court order that lets Ritabrata Banerjee stay. Times of India adds the 'signgate' angle and rebel MLAs' claims of forged signatures, giving voice to the challengers' version. India TV is more transactional, simply stating the outcome without any political framing. The key omission across all sources is any detail on the merits of the signature forgery allegations. A careful reader should note that the core legal question, whether the Speaker's appointment of a rebel over a loyalist was valid, remains unresolved. Watch for the single bench's decision within two months, which could reshape Bengal's assembly dynamics. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 1 government-critical, 2 neutral - indiatoday.in (government critical) Leads with refusal of relief to Mamata camp, frames as setback for ruling TMC - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Leads with Banerjee continuing, adds signgate allegations and rebel quotes - indiatvnews.com (neutral report) Plain chronological summary, no political framing or added context This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T15:52:47+00:00. Tags: Calcutta High Court, Mamata Banerjee, Ritabrata Banerjee, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Assembly Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/calcutta-hc-refuses-relief-to-mamata-camp-ritabrata-stays-bengal-lop/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/calcutta-hc-refuses-relief-to-mamata-camp-ritabrata-stays-bengal-lop/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/