The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the Telangana Assembly Secretary to inform the court when a decision will be taken on the petitions filed to declare the MLAs who defected from the party as disqualified. The court reacted sharply to the Speaker’s failure to take action so far regarding the disqualification of the MLAs who defected from the BRS to the Congress party.
The bench deposed the lawyer appearing on behalf of the Assembly Secretary and questioned whether it has been 10 months since the complaint regarding the disqualification of the defected MLAs has been received, but has there been any time left to issue notices to them?
It expressed anger over the lawyer’s demand for an appropriate time. “Does the appropriate time mean the end of the legislative session? Shouldn’t action be taken until the term of the assembly is over?” it said. Will it be done like the case of the MLAs who defected from the party in the Maharashtra Assembly? It deposed.
The bench expressed impatience when the lawyer explained that he was not arguing on behalf of the Speaker, but on behalf of the Assembly Secretary. The Assembly Secretary would talk to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, he said.
The bench responded to the lawyer’s statement that if they were given two weeks’ time, they would tell her after knowing, saying, ‘There is no need to go to Hyderabad to tell her after knowing, we can also find out by talking on the phones.’ It concluded that only a week’s time was being given. The next hearing was adjourned to February 10.
Earlier, a single judge of the Telangana High Court had ruled that an inquiry should be conducted within three months on the complaints received against the MLAs who defected from the party and a schedule should be finalized for that.
The Division Bench of the High Court, which heard the appeal filed by the Assembly Secretary challenging this, issued a verdict on November 22 saying, ‘The Speaker should take a decision at an appropriate time..’
Challenging this verdict, BRS MLAs Padi Kaushik Reddy and K Vivekananda filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court on January 16. They initially filed two separate special leave petitions seeking action against MLAs Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkratavu and Kadiyam Srihari, who had won from BRS and joined the Congress.
The remaining seven BRS MLAs Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, M Sanjay Kumar, Kale Yadayya, Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy, Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and Arekapudi Gandhi filed separate cases. A two-judge bench of Supreme Court judges Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George heard the case.
