HYDERABAD:The state Assembly and law department secretaries urged the High Court on Friday to grant them two weeks’ time to make their submissions in the contempt case, saying that consultations were going on with regard to implementation of the order passed earlier by the court in restoring the petitioners’ (Congress leaders Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and SA Sampath Kumar) membership of the state legislative Assembly. While refusing to grant the said time, justice B Siva Sankara Rao granted a week’s time and adjourned the hearing to August 10.
The judge was dealing with a contempt case filed by Congress MLAs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and SA Sampath Kumar, who are under expulsion, seeking action against law secretary V Niranjan Rao and Assembly secretary V Narasimha Charyulu for deliberately not implementing the order passed by the court in April this year.
On April 17, justice Siva Sankara Rao, while allowing the petition filed by Komatireddy and Sampath challenging their expulsion from the membership of the Assembly, ruled that the expulsion of the two MLAs by the Assembly was invalid on the ground that the principles of natural justice were not followed.
When the matter came up for hearing on Friday, the judge made it clear that there was no need to go into the merits of the case and that arguments would be heard only after issuance of Form-1 notices under the Contempt of Court Act. The judge said there would be no objection to grant some time if there was persuasion to comply with the court order, and posted the matter to August 10.