Supreme Court upholds Danam Nagender’s disqualification as MLA

The Supreme Court upheld the Telangana High Court's decision disqualifying former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender under the anti-defection law for switching from the BRS to the Congress. The court rejected his appeal and affirmed that his Assembly seat stood vacant from April 23, 2024.

Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender’s petition challenging the Telangana High Court judgment disqualifying him from the Assembly under the Tenth Schedule for defection from the BRS to the Congress.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana held that the High Court had correctly interpreted the law and that there was no ground for interference.

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Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Nagender, argued that the Tenth Schedule contained a provision to condone a member giving up party membership. “Ghar Wapsi?” Justice Bagchi commented.

When Rohatgi referred to Paragraph 2(1)(b), the bench pointed out that it applied to voting against the party whip and not to Paragraph 2(1)(a), which dealt with voluntarily giving up party membership.

“Your case is ‘aaya Ram, gaya Ram, phir aaya Ram’?” Justice Bagchi asked.

The BRS counsel denied that the party had condoned Nagender’s conduct and said it was the BRS member who had filed the disqualification petition. The bench subsequently declined to interfere with the High Court judgment.

Nagender won the Khairatabad Assembly seat on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections, later defected to the ruling Congress and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket while remaining an MLA.

The High Court set aside Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s decision rejecting the disqualification petitions and held that Nagender was disqualified with effect from April 23, 2024. It also held that the Khairatabad Assembly seat had fallen vacant, paving the way for a fresh election.