HYDERABAD: Pointing out that the judgment passed recently by a single judge has got the potential of making inroads into the sovereign functions of the House, the MLAs belonging to the ruling TRS on Friday filed an appeal before the Hyderabad High Court with a plea to set aside the order of the single judge who recently quashed the expulsion order of the Telangana state legislative assembly and gazette notification issued by the state government notifying vacancy for Nalgonda and Alampur (SC) assembly segments represented by the expelled Congress MLAs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and SA Sampath Kumar, respectively.
When the counsel appearing for the appellant MLAs made a mention on Friday before the division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan with a plea to hear the appeal and their miscellaneous petition urgently, the bench pointed out that they are not a party before the single judge. While refusing to hear the appeal, the bench said that it would first hear the miscellaneous petition to decide the request of filing appeal on Wednesday.
On April 17, the single judge allowed the petition by Komatireddy and Sampath challenging their expulsion from the membership of the State assembly. Making it clear that there was violation of principles of natural justice in expulsion of the two members from the membership of the House. TRS legislators Vemula Prashanth Reddy and 11 others, in their appeal submitted that the Supreme Court has held in Rajaram Pal case “that the principles of natural justice are not immutable but are flexible; they cannot be cast in a rigid mould and put in a straitjacket and the compliance therewith has to be considered in the facts and circumstances of each case.”
They further said that the single judge ought to have seen that when the misbehaviour and unruly actions of the two petitioners on the floor of the Assembly was certain and definite on the face of the House, there was no requirement of following audi alteram partem principle (listening to other side) in a case of disciplinary proceedings not required to be followed as against the members of the assembly.