HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Friday set aside the order passed by the Assembly Speaker, acting as the Chairman of the Tribunal, in the defection case involving Congress MLA Danam Nagender and declared his Assembly seat vacant.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin allowed the appeals filed by BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy challenging the Speaker’s decision.
The Bench directed the Registry to communicate its order to the Assembly Speaker as well as the Election Commission.
Nagender was elected from the Khairatabad constituency on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections and subsequently joined the Congress. The BRS had approached the Speaker seeking his disqualification on the ground of defection.
Following directions issued by the Supreme Court, the Speaker, acting as the Chairman of the Tribunal, conducted an inquiry into the complaint and concluded that Nagender had not legally defected from the BRS.
Challenging the Speaker’s decision, Maheshwar Reddy and Kaushik Reddy approached the High Court through separate petitions. After hearing the rival submissions, the Chief Justice-led bench had reserved its orders.
The court also made it clear that Nagender’s Assembly seat stood vacated and directed the Registry to communicate the decision to the concerned constitutional and electoral authorities.