HC gives final deadline to BRS MLAs who defected to Congress

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Thursday, June 25, granted a final opportunity to BRS-turned-Congress MLAs Danam Nagender and Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy to file their counters in petitions challenging the Assembly Speaker’s decision to reject disqualification pleas against defected legislators.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin was hearing petitions filed by BRS MLAs contesting the Speaker’s dismissal of their petitions seeking the disqualification of 10 MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress after winning the 2023 Assembly elections on BRS tickets.

During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners submitted that despite being granted three opportunities by the court, Nagender and Krishna Mohan Reddy had failed to file their counters. The counsel argued that the respondents appeared to be deliberately delaying the proceedings and expressed concern that the pattern would continue.

Taking note of the submission, the bench observed that sufficient opportunities had already been provided. It granted the two MLAs a final two weeks to file their counters and directed the petitioners to submit their replies within one week thereafter.

Court directs submissions within 3 weeks

The court also directed all parties to file their written submissions within three weeks without fail. It ordered that all 10 connected cases be listed together for the time being, with hearings to be taken up chronologically at a later stage if required.

The bench further instructed counsel for the Assembly Speaker to keep the original records related to the disqualification petitions ready for the next hearing.

The matter has been posted to July 22 for further hearing.