HYDERABAD: A bench of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday continued hearing the appeals filed by the Assembly Secretary challenging the orders of a single judge regarding the petitions seeking disqualification of several MLAs who defected from the BRS to the Congress.
Senior advocate P Sriraghuram, representing MLA Danam Nagender, argued before the bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao that while courts have the authority to review the Speaker’s decision after it is made, they should refrain from intervening before the Speaker has taken any action.
He emphasised that judicial interference in matters related to the Speaker’s duties should be minimal, as per the Supreme Court’s precedents. Sriraghuram contended that the Speaker holds an important constitutional position and has the independent authority to decide on disqualification matters. The bench adjourned the matter to Thursday when senior counsel Mayur Reddy is expected to present arguments on behalf of Kadiyam Srihari, another MLA.
Plea to book Revanth for ‘abusing’ leaders rejected
Justice B Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition filed by BRS leader Errolla Srinivas seeking a direction to the Banjara Hills police station to register a case against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for allegedly using offensive language against pink party leaders during a public meeting in March 2024. Srinivas, a former SC, ST Commission chairman, alleged in his petition that Revanth made threatening comments during a public meeting at Palamuru on March 6.
According to the petition, the chief minister also used crude and offensive language, including a threat to “pull out the intestines” of prominent BRS leaders like former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao. The petitioner argued that such statements from a sitting chief minister were inflammatory and could incite violence and lead to law-and-order problems in the state. However, the high court, while considering the petition, noted that the writ was not maintainable and that Srinivas lacked the standing (locus) to file the petition.
Med admissions: HC notices to state govt, Kaloji varsity
A bench of the Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas, on Wednesday issued notices to the state of Telangana and the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) in a writ petition filed by Dr S Satyanarayana, challenging the validity of Rule VIII(i) and (ii) of the Telangana Medical Colleges (Admission into Postgraduate Medical Courses) Rules, 2021, because these rules are arbitrary and discriminatory.
The petitioner has sought a declaration that he, and others in a similar situation, be treated as local candidates for admission to postgraduate medical courses in the state. The petitioner argued that the current admission rules, which do not extend the benefit of local candidate status to those who studied outside Telangana, are violative of Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 15 (Prohibition of discrimination) of the Constitution of India. After hearing the petitioner’s arguments, the court directed the state government and KNRUHS to file their responses to the writ petition and adjourned the case to November 12 for further hearing.