Now Reading: Telangana High Court begins hearing BRS pleas against 10 defected MLAs
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Telangana High Court begins hearing BRS pleas against 10 defected MLAs
The Telangana High Court on Wednesday began hearing petitions challenging Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s decision to dismiss disqualification pleas against 10 BRS MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress after the 2023…
The Story in Brief
The Telangana High Court on Wednesday began hearing petitions challenging Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s decision to dismiss disqualification pleas against 10 BRS MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress after the 2023 assembly elections. A division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin will continue the hearing on Thursday.
BRS lawyers argued that the Speaker’s order was “perverse, unsustainable, and unconstitutional.” They pointed to Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, who won on a BRS ticket and then contested the Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket. Citing a Supreme Court ruling, the counsel said contesting from another party automatically attracts disqualification, and the Speaker gave an “imaginary interpretation” to narrow his jurisdiction.
The Indian Opinion
This case revives a familiar suspicion: that the anti-defection law is toothless when parties in power shield defectors. The Speaker's argument that he cannot look at events outside the House sounds like a convenient dodge, not a legal principle. The Supreme Court has said crossing the floor in an election is disqualifying. Whether the High Court holds the Speaker to that test will tell us if the Tenth Schedule still means anything or has become a dead letter.
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, siasat.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
