German citizenship: Telangana HC imposes Rs 30 lakh fine on ex-Vemulawada MLA

The court, in its order, said Dr Ramesh should pay Rs 25 lakh to current Vemulawada MLA Adi Srinivas and the remaining Rs 5 lakh to Telangana State Legal Service Authority

By Legal Correspondent

Hyderabad: Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy on Monday imposed a fine of Rs.30 lakh on former Vemulawada MLA Dr. Chennamaneni Ramesh, on charges of ‘concealing’ his German citizenship while serving as an elected representative. The fine was imposed after the court found that Dr. Ramesh had deliberately suppressed his foreign nationality during multiple elections.

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The court directed Dr. Ramesh to pay Rs.25 lakh to Adi Srinivas, the current MLA of Vemulawada, for the expenses and losses incurred while challenging Ramesh’s Indian citizenship. The court observed that Srinivas had consistently contested Ramesh’s eligibility to hold office, arguing that he had concealed his German citizenship while contesting elections. The remaining Rs.5 lakh of the fine was to be paid to the Telangana State Legal Services Authority.

In its ruling, the court criticized Dr. Ramesh for failing to produce any documentation from the German Embassy to prove that he was not a citizen of Germany. The judge noted that Dr. Ramesh had made multiple trips to Germany while serving as an MLA, despite his dual citizenship, which violated constitutional provisions regarding foreign allegiance. The court also dismissed the writ petition filed by Dr. Ramesh, challenging an earlier order from the union Home Ministry that declared him to be a German citizen, thereby invalidating his Indian citizenship.

Dr. Ramesh, who hails from a prominent political family, was first elected as the Vemulawada MLA in 2009 on a TDP ticket. He later joined the TRS (now BRS) and won consecutive elections in 2014 and 2019. His opponent, Adi Srinivas, had contested the Vemulawada seat in 2009, 2014, and 2018 but was defeated on all occasions. Srinivas, who emerged victorious in the 2023 elections, had long claimed that Ramesh’s alleged German citizenship should have disqualified him from holding public office.

Disappointed, says Ramesh

Stating that he was “deeply disappointed’ by the High Court verdict on his citizenship, Dr. Ramesh said this pertained to the key issue of the case concerning the implementation of section 10.3 of the Citizenship Act, as ordered in its judgement by the Telangana High Court in 2019.

“There may be many ups and downs in political life, but it is a rare and great fortune that I have been able to withstand all of them by myself, with the cooperation of friends and well-wishers, and worked honestly and got full public approval in four consecutive elections from Vemulawada. It has to be mentioned that the election petitions against my citizenship were mainly to create obstacles in my political career. All of these have been successfully challenged twice in the past, in the High Court and the Supreme Court, and my lawyers are exploring the possibility of going to court on the current ruling too. After the last election, I have stayed away from direct politics, but I will continue to contribute to the development of our region in the future as well,” he said in a statement issued here.