Decide On Defection Petitions In 4 Weeks: HC To Speaker

The Telangana High Court on Monday issued a significant directive instructing the Legislative Assembly Secretary to fix a schedule for the Speaker to hear and dispose of the disqualification applications of BRS MLAs who have defected to the Congress.

The High Court also asked the Assembly Secretary to file a status report on the same within four weeks, failing which the Court would suo moto reopen the case.

Hearing a case filed by BRS MLAs Padi Kaushik Reddy and Vivekananda Goud, who sought disqualification proceedings against certain MLAs who had defected from the BRS, the court observed that since the time of filing the writ plea in the month of April, no information had been given to the court about the disqualification applications. As such, the petitioners were entitled for relief, the court said.

The petitioners specifically requested the disqualification of BRS MLAs Danam Nagender, Kadiyam Srihari and Tellam Venkata Rao, who switched to the Congress.

In addition to this petition, BJP legislative leader Maheshwar Reddy also filed a separate petition seeking disqualification of BRS MLA Danam Nagender.

After reviewing the cases, the High Court delivered a crucial verdict and further warned that if no action was taken within this time frame, it would initiate suo motu proceedings to address the matter.

During the court proceedings, extensive arguments were presented with the petitioners emphasizing that the Speaker had disregarded previous directions issued by the Supreme Court. After considering both sides, the High Court concluded that a decision must be reached by the Speaker within the next four weeks.

Gandra Mohan Rao, the legal representative for the BRS, praised the judgment. He said that the court's decision was a positive step towards addressing the defections of the three MLAs from the BRS to the Congress.

Rao said that if the Speaker failed to act within the stipulated time, the High Court would take up the case on its own. He also warned that if the Speaker continued to delay his decision, they would file a contempt of court petition.

Rao also said that the BRS would push for action not only against the three MLAs in question but against other defecting legislators as well.