The Lok Sabha secretariat has given 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs, who merged with the little-known, Tripura-based Nationalist Citizens Party of India in June, seven days to reply to a petition seeking their disqualification on grounds of defection.

The petition, according to the notice from the Secretariat issued on Wednesday, was filed by Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s national general secretary and the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha.

The letter is dated August 25 (Tuesday). Incidentally, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana on Tuesday agreed to hear Banerjee’s plea for swift action in the matter, and sought a response from the rebels.

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The notice, which attached Banerjee’s June 18 petition seeking their removal from office, invoked Rule 6 of the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1985. This rule governs proceedings for service of the notice and its disposal within a timeframe.

“You are requested kindly to furnish your comments on the petition in terms of Rule 7 (3) of the said Rules within seven days of the receipt of this letter for consideration of the Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha,” the communication added.

Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool’s Diamond Harbour MP and the nephew of former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has filed separate disqualification petitions against the 20 rebel MPs. He also met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on August 12 after sending a written reminder on July 27 about the matter.

The 20 MPs named in the petitions include Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Rachana Banerjee, Jagadish Chandra Barma Basunia, Partha Bhowmick and Arup Chakraborty.

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Adhikari Deepak Dev, Sayani Ghosh, Bapi Haldar, Md Abu Taher Khan, Kalipada Saren Kherwal, Asit Kumar Mal, June Maliah, Mitali Bag, Khalilur Rahaman, Mala Roy, Sharmila Sarkar and Yusuf Pathan are also named.