Telangana High Court Orders Timely Hearing on Disqualification of BRS Turncoat MLAs | Hyderabad News – Times of India

HYDERABAD: Stopping short of directing the speaker to decide the pending disqualification pleas against turncoat MLAs without any delay, the Telangana high court on Monday instead ordered the secretary of the Telangana assembly to place them before the speaker for fixing a schedule of hearing within four weeks.
In an order that is set to raise the political temperature in the state, Justice B Vijaysen Reddy also gave an ultimatum: “If nothing is heard within four weeks, it is made clear that the matter will be reopened suo motu and appropriate orders will be passed.”

The judge gave the direction while disposing of the petitions by BRS and BJP seeking disqualification of three BRS MLAs – Danam Nagender, Tellam Venkat Rao and Kadiyam Srihari – who had switched over to Congress after getting elected on BRS tickets in Dec last year.
Explaining his intention in directing the assembly secretary instead of the speaker, Justice Vijaysen said: “Having due regard to the constitutional status and dignity of the office of the speaker, this court finds it appropriate to direct his secretary.”
Making an indirect reference to the absolute silence from the office of the speaker, he added: “The BRS filed its petitions in April and the BJP in July. The cases were heard at length and the arguments concluded on Aug 10. However, there is no information till now as to the status of the disqualification petitions. In this backdrop, this court opines that the BRS and BJP have made out special circumstances and are entitled for relief.”
The time schedule to be furnished by the speaker’s secretary should contain all the stages of speaker’s court right from taking up the pleas, filing of pleadings, documents, personal hearing etc., Justice Vijaysen Reddy said. These different stages must all find place in the schedule of hearing and the same should be furnished to the judicial registrar of the high court within four weeks, the judge added.
Relying on the Jan 2020 order of a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Keisham Meghachandra Singh case pertaining to Manipur assembly that gave a four-week deadline to the Manipur assembly speaker to decide the pending disqualification pleas, Justice Vijaysen Reddy described it as an authoritative pronouncement on this subject.
The judge said: “Every constitutional authority is bound by the principles of democracy, constitutional ethics and philosophy. To contend that indecision/inaction is not subject to judicial review, one has to ask for how long? It cannot be said the speaker can wait for five years, until the completion of the term of the House and still the court should lay off its hands. Such an approach would be against the constitutional mandate and antithetical to democratic principles. If the judgment in Kihoto Hollohan’s case that said that courts should not interfere at a pre-decision stage is construed in the manner canvassed by the state, then there may arise a situation where the aggrieved party would not have any remedy if the speaker declines to take any decision in the disqualification petitions.”