NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, for the second consecutive day, criticised Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy over his alleged remarks on the defection of BRS MLAs, as it reserved its order on a plea filed by BRS leaders KT Rama Rao and Padi Kaushik Reddy.
These leaders have sought the top court’s direction for timely action by the Telangana Assembly Speaker on disqualification proceedings against 10 MLAs who shifted allegiance to the ruling Congress.
A two-judge bench, comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih, once again questioned Reddy on Thursday, asking whether he was not expected to show "at least some degree of restraint" given his previous statements.
"Did we commit a mistake by not taking action at that time and issuing contempt? We are not bothered by what politicians say, but the person having faced a similar situation," Justice Gavai remarked.
During the hearing, senior advocate Aryama Sundaram, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the Speaker must make a decision within a reasonable period. He pointed out that the matter had been pending before the High Court on the petitioners' own plea and stressed the need for a time limit.
"The time has come to fix a short time limit. Their intention has been shown. The Leader of the Party in the Legislature, in the presence of the Speaker, says nothing will happen. I am requesting a time limit to decide the matter," he submitted.
The apex court had earlier taken strong exception to Reddy’s statement on the floor of the House, where he allegedly said that no by-elections would take place even if BRS MLAs switched sides to the Congress.
The court observed that such remarks, if made in the Assembly, amounted to making a mockery of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.
On 27 March, Reddy, while responding to concerns raised by opposition MLAs during discussions on the Demands for Grants for 2025-26, had invoked constitutionally guaranteed immunity from judicial scrutiny over legislative proceedings and asserted that there would be no by-elections in Telangana.
It is notable that Reddy had made a similar statement last August regarding the bail granted to BRS leader K Kavitha and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
He had reportedly questioned, "How did Kavitha get bail in five months when Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia got it only after 15 months, and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is yet to get it?"