HYDERABAD: Ending 15-year-old dispute over the citizenship of former BRS MLA Chennamaneni Ramesh, the high court on Monday imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on him for misleading the court by suppressing his German citizenship.
While imposing the hefty penalty, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy directed Ramesh to pay Rs 25 lakh to Adi Srinivas, the petitioner and the present MLA of Vemulawada, and Rs 5 lakh to Telangana State Legal Services Authority. The court gave one month time to Ramesh to pay the penalty amount.
Congress leader Adi Srinivas challenged the citizenship of Ramesh. The high court observed that Ramesh could not furnish a single document from the German Embassy stating that he was not a citizen of Germany. The petitioner contended that Ramesh, former MLA of Vemulawada, travelled to Germany several times with Overseas Citizen of India card.
Adi Srinivas, who challenged the citizenship of Ramesh, even approached the Union Home Secretary stating that Ramesh was not an Indian citizen and despite that he contested in the Assembly elections.
In 2013, the high court announced that the election of Ramesh as an MLA was null and void and directed the government to conduct a fresh election to Vemulawada Assembly. However, Ramesh challenged the HC’s decision in the Supreme Court.
The Ministry of Home Affairs also stated that Ramesh was not an Indian citizen and cancelled the Indian citizenship of Ramesh as directed by the Supreme Court in 2017. The former BRS MLA challenged the Home Ministry’s decision in the high court again. The high court after completion of arguments reserved the judgment in October this year.
On Monday, the court dismissed the petition filed by Ramesh challenging the decision of the Union Home Secretary. The court observed that Ramesh misled the officials and contested in the Assembly elections and even submitted false documents to the court suppressing his German citizenship details.
The citizenship row of Ramesh started in 2009, when he was elected on TDP ticket from Vemulawada with a simple majority. His opponent Adi Srinivas challenged Ramesh’s election citing citizenship issue. Ramesh was elected as an MLA on TRS ticket in 2014 and 2018 against Adi Srinivas.
In 2023 Assembly elections, Adi Srinivas was elected from Vemulawada on Congress ticket against BRS candidate Chalmeda Lakshmi Narasimha Rao. The BRS did not field Ramesh in 2023 elections.