Recently, the Calcutta High Court instructed the Purulia district magistrate to organize a floor test in the Jhalda municipality by December 8. The objective is to determine the majority support for current chairperson Sheela Chatterjee

Justice Amrita Sinha further mandated the district magistrate to submit a compliance report to the court by December 12.

Further, the Court urged all councillors to collaborate with the district magistrate during the floor test proceedings. The order came in response to petitions from five Trinamul Congress councillors and two Congress councillors, both expressing a lack of confidence in Chatterjee. With a total of 12 councillors in the municipality, this call for cooperation emphasizes the importance of the upcoming floor test.

The seven petitioners collectively requested the court to instruct the district magistrate to conduct a floor test, aiming to determine whether Chatterjee had the backing of the majority of councillors. 

However, Chatterjee's lawyer opposed this request, citing a previous interim order from a division bench in February. This order had stated that she would retain her position as chairperson until the resolution of a case contesting her candidacy.

Chatterjee's legal representative argued that the current cases were not admissible or maintainable. However, Justice Sinha countered this argument by noting that a significant number of councillors had expressed their lack of confidence in Chatterjee through the writ petitions. As a result, the judge emphasized that the incumbent chairperson should be subjected to a no-confidence motion based on this majority representation from the councillors.