HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Friday set aside the single-judge orders in a batch of writ petitions seeking the disqualification of three MLAs who defected from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the Congress.
The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao, ruled that the Assembly Speaker is not bound by a specific time frame to decide on disqualification petitions and can take a reasonable period to adjudicate.
The petitions were filed by BRS MLAs P. Kaushik Reddy and Vivekananda Goud, demanding the disqualification of MLAs Danam Nagender (Khairatabad), Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), and Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam). Additionally, BJP Assembly floor leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy filed a separate petition against Danam Nagender.
Previously, on September 9, the High Court directed the Assembly Speaker's office to decide on the disqualification petitions within four weeks, warning that failure to act within the stipulated time would prompt the court to intervene directly.
In response, the Telangana Legislative Assembly, represented by its secretary, filed three writ appeals challenging the single-judge orders and sought a stay. After hearing arguments from all parties, the Division Bench reserved its verdict on November 12, 2024, which was delivered on Friday.