Telangana HC reserves verdict on pleas against Speaker’s ruling in Danam Nagender case

The Telangana High Court has reserved judgment on writ petitions challenging the Speaker’s ruling that Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender had not defected from the BRS despite contesting the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket.

By Our Legal Correspondent 

Hyderabad: Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin of the Telangana High Court on Friday reserved judgment on two writ petitions challenging the Legislative Assembly Speaker’s ruling regarding the disqualification of Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender.  

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The Writ Petitions, filed by BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, contend that Nagender incurred disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. 

Nagender, who won the Khairatabad seat on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections, subsequently switched loyalties to the ruling Congress. The Speaker had earlier held that the legislator had not defected from the BRS party. 

The High Court clarified that while arguments regarding similar disqualification pleas against eight other BRS-turned-Congress MLAs—Kale Yadaiah, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Kadiyam Srihari, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T. Prakash Goud, A. Gandhi, Tellam Venkat Rao, and Sanjay Kumar will be heard separately, the proceedings concerning Danam Nagender were wrapped up given the distinct nature of the allegations against him. 

Senior counsels K.Vivek Reddy and Gandra Mohan Rao appearing for the petitioners argued that an elected MLA contesting a Lok Sabha election on another party’s ticket as Nagender did on a Congress ticket unambiguously amounts to “voluntarily giving up membership” of his original party under the Tenth Schedule. 

They asserted that the Speaker ought to have considered acts such as active campaigning and filing nominations on the Congress party’s ticket, irrespective of whether a formal resignation letter was submitted. 

The petitioners’ counsels stressed that anti-defection laws do not depend on whether the stability of the state government is threatened or if the original party’s numbers inside the Assembly are diminished, but rather on whether the elected member voluntarily severed ties with his parent political outfit. 

Countering the allegations, Senior Counsels A.Venkatesh and Gourav Agarwal representing Danam Nagender argued that the petitioners’ case rested almost entirely on media reports and photographs. 

The allegations stem from a meeting on March 15, 2024, involving the Chief Minister and an AICC General Secretary, during which a Congress scarf was draped around the MLA’s shoulders, leading to assertions that he formally joined the party on March 17, 2024. 

They submitted that nowhere in the news reports or photograph submissions did Nagender explicitly state he had joined the Congress. They contended that such circumstantial media coverage was insufficient to establish a voluntary surrender of membership, adding that official Legislative Assembly records continue to show Danam Nagender as a BRS member.

After elaborate submissions, the Division Bench reserved its orders for 16th September.