Published Sep 09, 2024 | 3:39 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 09, 2024 | 3:57 PM
Telangana High Court denies IAS officers' stay request (Wikimedia Commons)
In a development that lends moral heft to principles in public life, the Telangana High Court on Monday, 9 September directed the Speaker of Telangana Legislative Assembly to decide on disqualification petitions against defected MLAs, within four weeks.
The high court issued the instructions on petitions by BRS and BJP on the defection of three BRS MLAs to Congress. They were: Kadiam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), Danam Nagender (Himayathnagar) and Tellam Venkatrao (Bhadarchalam). The petitions were filed against them by BRS legislators KP Vivekananda (Qutubullapur), Padi Kaushik Reddy (Huzurabad) and BJP MLA Alleti Maheswar Reddy (Nirmal).
Seven more BRS MLAs switched loyalty to Congress after the petitions were filed. They were: Arikepudi Gandhi (Serilingamppally), Kale Yadaiah (Chevella), Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy (Banswada), Dr Sanjay Kumar (Jagtiyal), Gudem Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru) T Prakash Goud (Rajendrangar) and Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy(Gadwal). The total number of the BRS MLAs who crossed over to the grand old party stands at 10.
Jutice B Vijaysen Reddy, while issuing the orders, asked the secretary of the Assembly to place the disqualification petitions before the Speaker.
The court also asked the Speaker to pronounce his decision within four weeks. The judge said the petitioners sought the intervention of the court since they had no information on the status of the disqualification petitions pending before the Speaker.
The case would be reopened suo moto if the Speaker failed to make a decision on the petitions before him in the stipulated time period, said the court.
It also gave the direction on Monday after hearings on the disqualification petitions concluded a month ago on 10 August.
The petitioners alleged that the Speaker had delayed a decision on the disqualification of the legislator though they had filed disqualification petitions under Schedule X of the Constitution more than three months ago. The petitioners feared that the inaction on the petitions might encourage the ruling party to engineer more defections.
They insisted that there were Supreme Court directions that the speaker should take action on disqualification petitions within three months and yet the speaker did not act.
They were referring to the Supreme Corut direction after the Maharashtra Speaker did not take action on the petitions against the Shiv Sena MLAs on their defections. The apex court held that the Speaker cannot delay his decision indefinitely on disqualification petitions and has to announce his decision within reasonable time with three months being the outer limit.
The counsel representing the MLAs who had defected said that the court could not issue a writ of mandamus (order issued directing an official to act in compliance with the law) against the Speaker as it lacked jurisdiction and therefore the petitions filed before the court were not maintainable.
They argued that the Speaker’s office is an independent tribunal and therefore the writ of mandamus cannot be issued against the Speaker.
In a related development, BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) described the Telangana High Court direction as a slap on the face of the Congress which had encouraged defections.
In a statement, he said that within four weeks all three MLAs — Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkatarao and Kadiam Srihari, would lose their membership of the Assembly.
“There will be by-elections in all the constituencies where BRS MLAs had defected to the Congress,” KTR said.
He came down heavily on Congress supremo Rahul Gandhi for his double-speak on allowing defections while preaching in support of Schedule X of the Constitution.
KTR recalled the Congress which advocated for the need for immediate disqualification of an MLA after he changes the party, was now encouraging the same practice in Telangana.
The BRS leader said that though there was a direction from the Supreme Court in the past that the disqualification petitions have to be disposed of within three months, the speaker of the Telangana Assembly did not bother to respect the orders of the apex court.
He said the Congress had stooped to the level of fielding Danam Nagender in Lok Sabha elections even though he won the Assembly elections on BRS ticket.
The MLA recalled Revanth Reddy, when he was in the Opposition, saying that those who defected to the other parties should be stoned to death.
“Now who should be stoned? Is it Revanth Reddy for encouraging defections or those who had defected to the Congress? The BRS MLAs who went the Congress were now left high and dry by the chief minister. “I pity these MLAs,” he said.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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