Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Wednesday began hearing petitions challenging the assembly speaker’s order dismissing defected MLAs’ disqualification petitions. The petitions were filed by BRS MLAs seeking disqualification of 10 BRS MLAs who reportedly defected to the ruling Congress. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, will continue the hearing on Thursday.Challenging the dismissal of Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender’s disqualification matter, the petitioner’s counsels K Vivek Reddy and Gandra Mohan Rao contended that the conduct of a person, who won as an MLA on a BRS ticket and subsequently contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, amounts to voluntarily giving up party membership.Stating that the speaker’s decision was “perverse, unsustainable, and unconstitutional”, the counsels, representing BRS leaders, argued that Nagender also denied any of the allegations of contesting and campaigning against BRS.“As per Supreme Court ruling, the moment anybody contests from another party, they attract disqualification, without requiring any further evidence, but in these cases, the speaker came up with some imaginary interpretation saying he cannot look at the events happening outside the House, thereby narrowing his jurisdiction,” they contended, while concluding their arguments.
