Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Friday reserved its verdict on two petitions challenging the assembly speaker’s ruling in the disqualification proceedings involving Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, setting Sept 16 for pronouncement of judgment.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin reserved orders after hearing detailed arguments from counsel representing all parties.The petitions were filed by BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, who had earlier approached the speaker seeking Nagender’s disqualification. They contended that Nagender, elected to the assembly on a BRS ticket, had subsequently joined the Congress and therefore incurred disqualification under the anti-defection law.Acting on directions of the Supreme Court in his capacity as tribunal chairman under the Tenth Schedule, the speaker had held that Nagender had not legally changed parties. Challenging that finding, both MLAs moved the high court.Counsel for the petitioners argued that Nagender’s decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate after being elected as a BRS MLA amounted to voluntarily giving up membership of his original party, even in the absence of a formal resignation.They submitted that conduct such as contesting on another party’s ticket and campaigning for it should have been taken into account by the speaker while deciding the disqualification petition. The petitioners further argued that the speaker’s powers under the anti-defection law are subject to judicial scrutiny and not unfettered.According to them, the central issue was whether the legislator had voluntarily given up membership of the party on whose ticket he was elected, and not whether the move affected the stability of the government or the numerical strength of the party in the assembly.Appearing for Nagender, counsel argued that the allegation that he joined the Congress on March 17, 2024, was based solely on his meeting the chief minister and an AICC general secretary two days earlier and photographs showing him wearing a tricolour party scarf.He contended that newspaper photographs and media reports, without any explicit declaration from Nagender himself, were insufficient to establish voluntary defection. He also pointed out that assembly records continue to reflect Nagender as a BRS member.The high court is scheduled to separately hear similar petitions filed against MLAs Kale Yadaiah, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Kadiyam Srihari, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T Prakash Goud, Arekapudi Gandhi, Tellam Venkat Rao and Sanjay Kumar, who are accused of winning on BRS tickets and later joining the Congress.
