India News | SC Notice to Telangana over 'delay' in Deciding Disqualification Pleas of MLAs
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought Telangana government's response on pleas against the purported delay by the assembly speaker to decide on the disqualification of BRS MLAs, who defected to Congress, saying a timely decision was key and there couldn't be a case of "operation successful but patient is dead".
New Delhi, Mar 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought Telangana government's response on pleas against the purported delay by the assembly speaker to decide on the disqualification of BRS MLAs, who defected to Congress, saying a timely decision was key and there couldn't be a case of "operation successful but patient is dead".
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and Augustine Gerorge Masih said the decision on pleas over the disqualification of the lawmakers "cannot go on till the end of the assembly session".
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The court also issued notices to the office of the speaker of Telangana legislative assembly, the secretary of assembly and the Election Commission.
Responses were also sought from MLAs Danam Nagender, Venkata Rao Tellam and Kadiyan Srihari who were directed to comply before the next hearing on March 25.
“Every matter cannot be dealt with in a manner that the operation is successful but the patient is dead,” Justice Gavai said.
Senior advocate C A Sundaram, appearing for BRS leader Padi Kaushik Reddy, said not taking a decision by the assembly speaker amounted to a failure in performing the constitutional mandate.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi opposed the submission and said a time frame couldn't be given to the speaker to decide the disqualification plea.
He said on July 1, 2024, the plea for disqualification was filed with the assembly speaker and on July 9, a petition was filed in the Telangana High Court.
“In a democracy, the process should not go on till the end of the term of the assembly and if it happens then what will happen to the democratic principles,” Justice Gavai said.
The court added, “People are not only interested in getting the law decided but also see how it affects them."
The bench said when the case was first listed on January 31, it deferred the hearing to February 10 and asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi whether the assembly speaker would like to express the timeline within which he would decide the disqualification plea.
Rohatgi said no such statement could be made on behalf of the speaker, the bench observed.
“Singhvi and Rohatgi state that no formal notice was there and thus no reply could be filed. Even though it is hyper technical we don't want it to be said that the case was decided against principles of natural justice. Hence we issue a notice returnable on March 25,” the bench said.
Telangana High Court registrar general was directed to ensure that notices were served.
On February 10, the bench said in a democracy, rights of a party couldn't be permitted to be frustrated. It had asked as top what will be the "reasonable time" for Telangana Assembly speaker to decide pleas for disqualification of BRS MLAs.
A high court division bench had said the state legislative assembly speaker must decide on the disqualification petitions against the three MLAs within a "reasonable time".
One of the pleas challenged the November 2024 order of the Telangana High Court over the disqualification of three BRS MLAs, who joined the ruling Congress party in the state whereas another petition related to the remaining seven legislators who defected.
The counsel appearing for the petitioners said a three-judges' bench of the apex court had expressly said a "reasonable time" would mean within three months, barring exceptional circumstances.
In November last year, the high court set aside an earlier order passed by a single judge that the assembly secretary should place the disqualification petitions of BRS MLAs -- Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkat Rao and Kadiyam Srihari -- before the speaker.
The petitioners -- BRS MLAs K P Vivekanand and P Kaushik Reddy and BJP floor leader in assembly Alleti Maheshwar Reddy -- moved the high court seeking a direction to the speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions that were filed before the speaker.
A single judge of the high court on September 9 last year directed the secretary of Telangana legislative assembly to place the disqualification petition before the speaker for fixing a schedule of hearing within a period of four weeks.
The court then directed to communicate the schedule so fixed to the registrar (judicial) of the high court.
It was also directed that in case no communication was received from the secretary, the matter would be reopened suo motu and appropriate orders shall be passed.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)