HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday issued notices to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and MLA Danam Nagender in a writ petition filed by Alleti Maheshwar Reddy challenging the Speaker’s order dismissing a plea against the legislator.
In his petition, Maheshwar Reddy urged the bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin to set aside the order dated March 11, 2026 passed by the Speaker. The petitioner contended that Nagender was elected as an MLA in the 2023 Assembly elections on a BRS ticket but later contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, without resigning from the BRS. This, Maheshwar Reddy contended, amounts to voluntarily giving up membership under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution.
Senior counsel K Vivek Reddy, appearing for the petitioner, relied on a Supreme Court judgment in the Mahachandra Prasad Singh vs Chairman, Bihar Legislative Council case to argue that a member can be disqualified even based on conduct outside the House. He submitted that the Speaker erred in holding that only conduct within the Assembly could be examined for disqualification.
The Bench granted one week to the petitioner’s counsel to serve notice on Nagender. Appearing for the Speaker, Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy accepted notice in his capacity as senior counsel and informed the court that a counter-affidavit would be filed.
The petition also seeks directions to impose consequences on the MLA, recover salary and other benefits received from April 23, 2024, the date of filing of nomination for the Lok Sabha elections.