HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday reserved its orders in a batch of writ appeals filed by the Legislative Assembly Secretary challenging an order by a single judge directing him to submit the disqualification petition of three MLAs before the Speaker for a decision.
The petitions were filed on March 18, 2024, seeking the disqualification of three MLAs who defected from the BRS to the Congress. However, due to the Speaker’s unavailability, the petitions were sent by registered post on March 30 and later directly submitted to the high court, bypassing the Speaker’s office.
Representing the state government, Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy argued that the filing of disqualification petitions directly in the high court, without giving the Speaker sufficient time to address the issue, was a violation of constitutional norms. He also condemned the use of “abusive” and “vulgar” language against the Speaker, who holds a constitutional office, asserting that such actions undermine the sanctity of the office.
Senior counsels P Sri Raghuram, J Ravishanker and Mayur Reddy, appearing for the MLAs, countered that the Speaker, as per the constitutional provisions, was the sole authority to decide on matters of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. They insisted that courts should not interfere in the process before the Speaker had a chance to make a decision, and that it was premature to direct the Assembly Secretary to act at this stage.
Senior counsel Gandra Mohan Rao, representing the BRS, highlighted a ruling by the Supreme Court in a defection case directing the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to take immediate action on disqualification petitions, underscoring that proceedings under the Tenth Schedule could not be delayed indefinitely.
Meanwhile, senior counsel J Prabhakar, representing BJP MLA Aleti Maheshwar Reddy, one of the petitioners, stated that the Speaker refused to accept the petitions when sent to his official residence. This compelled the petitioner to approach the high court for resolution, he argued.
After hearing extensive arguments from all sides, the bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao reserved its orders in the batch of three writ appeals.