HYDERABAD: On Monday, Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy of the Telangana High Court directed the Legislative Assembly Secretary to present a set of three writ petitions to the Speaker. These petitions seek the disqualification of MLAs who defected from the BRS to the Congress. The court has instructed that within four weeks, a hearing schedule be established, including deadlines for filing pleadings, submitting documents, and conducting personal hearings.
Additionally, Justice Reddy ordered the Secretary to provide a status report to the Judicial Registry of the High Court, detailing the Speaker's progress. Should the Speaker fail to set this schedule within the specified timeframe, the court will reopen the cases on its own and issue appropriate orders.
It is noteworthy that 10 BRS MLAs switched allegiance to the ruling Congress. Justice Reddy pointed out that while two of the petitions were filed in April and one in July, and despite arguments concluding on August 10, no update has been provided on the disqualification petitions. He noted that the petitioners have presented exceptional circumstances that justify judicial relief.
The petitions, filed by Aleti Maheshwar Reddy, P. Kaushik Reddy, and KP Vivekananda, seek the disqualification of Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkata Rao, and Kadiyam Srihari.