Supreme Court to Telangana Speaker: Decide on 10 Defected BRS MLAs Within 3 Weeks

The Supreme Court of India on Friday, February 6, directed Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar to take a final call on the disqualification petitions against 10 Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLAs who switched allegiance to the Indian National Congress after the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections.

Contempt warning from Apex court

The apex court made it clear that failure to decide the matter within the prescribed timeframe would invite contempt proceedings. The warning came from a Bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and A.G. Masih, while hearing petitions filed by the BRS accusing the Speaker of deliberately stalling action on the disqualification pleas.

Appearing for the Speaker, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi informed the court that proceedings had already commenced and sought additional time, citing the upcoming Telangana municipal elections scheduled for February 11. He submitted that decisions had been taken in some cases, while scrutiny of the remaining petitions was underway.

However, counsel for the petitioners, Mohit Rao, countered the claim, arguing that only a single hearing had been conducted in select matters despite repeated opportunities being granted earlier.

Court flags political conduct of defectors

Mohit Rao further drew the court’s attention to the conduct of the defected legislators, pointing out that one MLA had contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, while another actively campaigned for his daughter, also a Congress candidate, and continues to accompany her.

Observing that the Speaker had already been given sufficient time, the Bench listed the matter for hearing after three weeks and underscored that a decisive order was expected by then. “Failing which, we will proceed with contempt,” the court warned once again.