Telangana: Supreme Court asks why there is delay in decision of Telangana Speaker in disqualification case of BRS MLAs?

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took a tough stand on the delay in deciding the disqualification petitions against 10 MLAs who joined the ruling Congress from the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) by the Telangana Assembly Speaker. The Supreme Court questioned the inaction of the Assembly Speaker. The hearing of the case has been adjourned till next Wednesday.

SC issues notice to Telangana govt over 'delay' in deciding disqualification petitions of MLAs. "Till today, how much time has elapsed since the first petition? It seems like a year has passed. Why has the Speaker's office not fixed a time limit for deciding these petitions?" Justice Gavai asked.

Senior advocate Aryama Sundaram, representing BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, argued that despite the high court order in September 2024, the Speaker was directed to schedule the hearing within four weeks. But no notice was issued till January this year. He said one of the defected MLAs had also contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket and lost. He continues to be an MLA under BRS.

Senior advocate D Seshadri Naidu, who also appeared for the petitioners, said, "It was only after the Supreme Court's earlier observations that the Speaker had issued a notice on February 13, giving three weeks' time to the defecting MLAs to respond. However, even after the deadline has passed, there is no clarity on the status of the disqualification petitions."

When asked for time to respond by the respondents, Justice Gavai warned, “Do not adopt delaying tactics in this court.” The bench also questioned whether a constitutional court can direct the Speaker to act within a certain time frame, to which Sundaram asserted, “The Constitution is above all of us. It is the duty of the court to ensure that its order is followed.” For more updates, visit the ePaper here.