Disqualification of turncoat MLAs: High Court declines stay on order to Speaker

The three MLAs, who were elected as members of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, had since defected to the Congress party, raising questions about their political affiliations and eligibility.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday declined to stay a recent single judge order concerning the disqualification of three MLAs during a session on Thursday.

The division bench, led by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao, reviewed two writ appeals filed by the Secretary of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, challenging the earlier directive. The single judge had ordered the Assembly Secretary to present the disqualification petitions of MLAs Tellam Venkat Rao, Kadiyam Srihari and Danam Nagender to the Speaker for scheduling a hearing.

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Additionally, the order mandated that a status report outlining the action schedule be communicated to the Registrar of the High Court. Should this not occur, the court had indicated it would reopen the case suo moto for further hearings.

The three MLAs, who were elected as members of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party, had since defected to the Congress party, raising questions about their political affiliations and eligibility. In Thursday’s proceedings, the bench denied any interim relief and set the next hearing date for October 20.