SC to hear KTR’s plea on disqualification of defected MLAs on Feb 10

A Bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran took up Rama Rao's petition, which demands the expulsion of BRS legislators who switched to the ruling Congress

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday scheduled a hearing for February 10 on BRS working president KT Rama Rao‘s petition seeking the disqualification of seven MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress. The apex court tagged the petition with an earlier plea filed by BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and issued notices to all the turncoat legislators.

The Bench, comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran, took up Rama Rao’s petition, which seeks the disqualification of BRS MLAs who switched allegiance to Congress. The court heard Kaushik Reddy’s petition on January 31 regarding the defection of Tellam Venkat Rao, Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari, directing the Telangana Assembly Speaker to set a reasonable timeline for ruling on the disqualification pleas. It also asked the Assembly Secretary to inform the court of the Speaker’s decision within a week.

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Following petitions filed by Rama Rao apart from BRS MLAs Kaushik Reddy and KP Vivekananda, a single Bench of the Telangana High Court on September 9 last year directed the Assembly Secretary to fix a schedule of hearing for the disqualification motion with the Speaker and ensure a decision within four weeks.

However, the State government filed a writ petition before the Division Bench of the High Court, which overturned the order in November last year, siding with the State government’s argument that the Speaker’s authority over disqualification should not be subject to judicial interference. It allowed the Speaker a ‘reasonable time’ to decide the matter, stating that the exact timeframe would depend on the specifics of each case.

Kaushik Reddy then approached the Supreme Court, filing a special leave petition against the defection of Nagender, Venkat Rao and Srihari. On the same day, Rama Rao filed a writ petition seeking the disqualification of seven other MLAs — Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Kale Yadaiah, M Sanjay Kumar, Krishnamohan Reddy, Mahipal Reddy, Prakash Goud and Arekapudi Gandhi.

During the hearing of Kaushik Reddy’s petition, the Supreme Court Bench, led by Justices Gavai and AG Masih, questioned the Telangana Assembly Secretary as to what would be a “reasonable period” for deciding the disqualification pleas filed against the defecting MLAs. The Bench asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi (appearing for the Secretary of Telangana Legislative Assembly) to get instructions from the Speaker within a week.

“You tell us what is reasonable time in your perception,” Justice Gavai remarked. The hearing was set for February 10. Accordingly, when the petition of Rama Rao came for hearing on Monday, it was also tagged with the one filed by Kaushik Reddy and was posted for hearing again on February 10.

Meanwhile, the BRS working president took to X on Monday, stating that it would be impossible for Congress to shield the defected MLAs anymore. He pointed out that the laws laid down by the Constitution and the prior judgements of the Supreme Court were explicitly clear. “Let us be prepared to fight by-elections soon my fellow BRS party soldiers,” he gave a clarion call to the party cadre on Monday.