The Supreme Court on Friday extended by three weeks the time given to the Speaker of the Telangana Assembly to decide on the disqualification petition against two of the 10 rebel Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs, failing which it warned of initiating contempt proceedings.
SC gives Tagana Speaker three more weeks to decide on disqualification petition against BRS MLAsA bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and AG Masih said, “List after three weeks. We hope the Speaker will take a positive decision, otherwise we will proceed with contempt.”
The order came amid a series of petitions by BRS leaders, including a contempt petition filed by BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who alleged that the Speaker was in contempt for violating the three-month deadline for deciding the disqualification petition set by the apex court order on July 31 last year.
When the matter was heard on January 16, the court gave the Speaker two weeks to decide on three of the pending disqualification petitions.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, told the bench that as of the last date, the Speaker had decided one petition and the remaining two petitions were “on the way to completion”. Singhvi said that due to the upcoming municipal elections, the other side sought time and requested the court to post the matter after three weeks.
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However, lawyers appearing for the BRS leaders said that the Speaker was given several opportunities to comply with the court’s judgment, but he adjourned the matter in clear violation of the time set by the court. They pointed out that the cases of disqualification against an MLA are so clear that when he was a BRS MLA, he switched to the Congress, lost a parliamentary election on a Congress ticket and still continues as MLA.
However, the bench told the petitioners, “Last time, the assembly secretary indicated that they would need time till March. However, we gave them two weeks. Since then, a matter has been decided. We will give them time.” It warned lawyers for argument’s sake, “Don’t make a reel out of it. It’s emerged as a new industry.”
The Speaker decided the petition against five MLAs on December 17 and decided against two others on January 15. These MLAs include Kale Yadaiah, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Tellam Venkat Rao, Bandala Krishna Mohan Reddy, T Prakash Gaur, Gudem Mohipal Reddy and Arekapudi Gandhi.
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The petition against M Sanjay Kumar has been decided, while the petitions against Kadiam Srihari and Danam Nagender are still pending.
In an affidavit filed through advocate Shravan Kumar Karanam, the Speaker said the disqualification pleas against Nagendar will be taken up for recording of evidence on February 18, while one against Srihari is scheduled for February 19.
