Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court expressed concerns regarding the ongoing delay by the Assembly Speaker in addressing disqualification petitions against BRS MLAs who switched to the Congress party.
During a hearing on a series of writ petitions aimed at compelling the Speaker to act, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy questioned Advocate General A Sudershan Reddy about the expected timeframe for a decision and how long the court should wait for a response.
In his reply, the Advocate General highlighted that the matters at hand are constitutional and cannot be circumvented by the judiciary.
He also noted that the petitioners had used inappropriate language towards the Speaker, arguing that this should warrant the dismissal of their petitions, especially since they were filed only ten days after the disqualification petitions were submitted.
Senior counsel Ravishankar Jandhyala, representing MLA Danam Nagender, who switched from the BRS to the Congress party, argued that in other states, courts have issued directives for Speakers to make decisions under different circumstances, such as when party symbols were allocated or when MLAs were barred from the Assembly.
He pointed out that, in this instance, the Speaker has yet to take any action on the pending disqualification petitions.
Gandra Mohan Rao, senior counsel for the BRS, countered the Advocate General’s assertion that the party had hastily approached the court.
He clarified that the writ petition seeking disqualification was filed nearly a month after the initial disqualification petitions were submitted to the Speaker.
Rao noted that the Speaker’s office only acknowledged the petitions after a court directive was issued to the Assembly Secretary.
He argued that if the court could instruct the Secretary to accept the petitions, it should also direct the Speaker to act on them.
Additionally, he referenced a Supreme Court observation stating that individuals facing disqualification should not remain as MLAs for even a single day.
