Telangana High Court registers PIL questioning Venkatrami Reddy’s MLC post

Telangana HC directed its registry to register as a PIL a petition challenging BRS MLC P. Venkatrami Reddy’s continuance in office. The plea alleges procedural lapses in his voluntary retirement from All India Services, rendering his MLC post invalid

Hyderabad: Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the court registry to number as a regular Public Interest Litigation (PIL) a petition challenging the continuance of BRS MLC P Venkatrami Reddy in office.

The PIL, filed by Jay Shankar of Karimnagar, alleges that Venkatrami Reddy’s voluntary retirement from the All India Services was never approved by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), making his subsequent election as MLC invalid.

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According to the petitioner, as per service rules, an officer seeking voluntary retirement must give three months’ notice to the State government, which must forward the request to the Centre with a no-due certificate and vigilance clearance. In this case, neither the officer nor the State followed the mandatory procedure.

The plea states that while serving as Medak District Collector, Venkatrami Reddy submitted his resignation on November 15, 2021, which the then Chief Secretary purportedly approved the same day and forwarded to the Centre. Without waiting for DoPT clearance, Reddy filed his nomination as a BRS MLC candidate the very next day, November 16, 2021, which was accepted by the Legislative Council Secretary.

The petitioner added that RTI-obtained information confirmed that DoPT had not approved his resignation, rendering his MLC post untenable.

When the matter was presented before the bench, the High Court rejected objections raised by the registry against registering the case as a PIL, ordered it to be numbered as a regular PIL, and listed it for hearing in due course.