HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Friday set aside the order passed by the Assembly Speaker, acting as Chairman of the Tribunal under the Tenth Schedule, in the defection case involving Congress MLA Danam Nagender and declared his Assembly seat vacant.
A bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin allowed separate appeals filed by BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, challenging the Speaker’s decision. The Registry was directed to communicate the judgment to the Assembly Speaker and the Election Commission.
The petitioners had sought Nagender’s disqualification, contending that he was elected to the Assembly on a BRS ticket in the 2023 elections, subsequently joined the Congress and, while still an MLA, contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate. According to them, these actions attracted disqualification under the anti-defection provisions.
Following directions issued by the Supreme Court, the Speaker, in his capacity as Chairman of the Tribunal, conducted an inquiry into the complaints and held that Nagender had not incurred disqualification on the ground of defection. Aggrieved by the finding, Maheshwar Reddy and Kaushik Reddy approached the High Court through separate petitions.
After hearing the rival submissions, the bench had reserved its orders and pronounced its judgment on Friday, setting aside the Speaker’s order and disqualifying Nagender as an MLA.
Counsel appearing for Nagender subsequently requested the bench to suspend the operation of its order for some time to enable him to approach the Supreme Court. It was submitted that sudden vacation of the seat would cause difficulties to the people of the constituency.
Counsel for the petitioners opposed the request, contending that once the court’s disqualification order was pronounced, Nagender could not continue as an MLA even for a minute. The bench rejected this request and reiterated that his Assembly seat stood vacated. The Registry was directed to communicate the order to the Speaker and the poll panel.
